IT S TIME TO LAUNCH A NEW LEVEL OF IT SERVICE DELIVERY. Presented By:

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June Blair
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1 IT S TIME TO LAUNCH A NEW LEVEL OF IT SERVICE DELIVERY Presented By:

2 Are you ready for takeoff AKA cloud? What is it? Cloud Computing allows your organization to dramatically reduce the amount of software and hardware necessary to run your business. In many instances this reduces costs of data storage dramatically. Instead of being responsible for a fleet of computers each with their own suite of software, cloud computing applications allow you to log into Web-based services which host all the programs your workers need and use. Remote machines operated offsite can run everything from to complex data analysis programs. Cloud computing represents a dramatic workload shift, shifting the software and storage responsibility of your IT environment into the cloud. Cloud computing does not simply refer to a location where data and code are located. Rather, the cloud refers to a dramatic change IT architecture with far greater functionality than an offsite informational storage system. Migrating to Cloud architecture fundamentally changes what processes can be measured and managed. Cloud can reshape organizations by capturing relevant information about a business, the market and customer engagement through web services. Adopters of Cloud computing experience a dramatic increase in their exposure to connectivity and a resulting groundswell of data, all of which can be channeled and parsed into a competitive advantage. So... Are you ready? Cloud computing could quite possibly be a game-changer for your company. It has many benefits but understanding the differences in the types of solutions and how to leverage the cloud is where the tough work begins. Some common questions include: What are my options and how do I decide? How does my overall business strategy fit with the solutions? What do we migrate? How much control over the IT should we keep? How will the cloud impact management policies? What is the right level of performance and security?

3 Cloud Strategy by the Numbers! 1 2 3

4 Benefits of a Managed Service Service level improvement Enable objectives of the business plan Optimization of staff and technologies Flattened IT cost curve A more efficient and effective IT department Management of technical personnel, business operations, and service level agreements Ongoing management of IT applications Stabilize, Standardize, and Simplify IT

5 The Correct Strategy at Work

6 Information Technology Simplified Case Study: WaterRF Company Profile Devoted to advancing the science of water, Water Research Foundation (WaterRF) provides drinking water utilities and suppliers with practical solutions to today s most complex challenges. Their staff works with the water supply community to identify, prioritize, fund, manage and communicate research across the globe. WaterRF is the largest organization of its kind in the country, with over 1,500 subscribers, as well as far-reaching international influence and respect. Organization Points of Pain/Obstacles Water Research Foundation required a major overhaul and revamp of their public facing website, as well as a stabilization of their infrastructure to include Intranet and collaboration sites. As an international science research foundation, WaterRF wanted to provide their subscribers with a more efficient and user-friendly way of accessing a variety of research information, while also upgrading their entire technological infrastructure. Practice Areas Utilized Project Management Dedicated Project Manager Infrastructure Project Intranet Project Website Redesign and Implementation Web Portal project Custom Work Benefits Realized Website Upgrade, Re-structuring and Redesign Migration from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 Greatly Refined and Enhanced Access to Hosted Data, Including Search Capabilities Streamlined and Enhanced Internal Interface with Collaboration Ability brossgroup.com Delivering Results Exceeding Expectations

7 Information Technology Simplified Detailed Obstacles: 1. WaterRF s existing website had a myriad of shortcomings: Ineffective and outdated interface which made navigation for both subscribing and non-subscribing visitors challenging. It was unable to delineate subscriber vs. non-subscriber access to information. WaterRF required a new means of cataloguing and curating subscriber information. WaterRF needed a new way to host their website and data offsite to ensure accessability, safety, security, and the integrity of their documents Website search capabilities required more customized sophistication. As an international search foundation their site hosts many multimedia presentations and prolix academic research documents. A way to provision internal vs. external access had to be developed. 2. Existing infrastructure had to be updated from SharePoint 2007 onto a new SharePoint 2010 platform. 3. WaterRF required complete IT Managed Service, including project oversight and HelpDesk management. 4. Internal SharePoint training in order to capitalize on SharePoint 2010 increased function. brossgroup.com Delivering Results Exceeding Expectations

8 Information Technology Simplified Solutions: Website and Data Management: Bross Group implemented SharePoint 2010 as the foundation for WaterRF s new website. SharePoint 2010 was able to meet nearly all of the requirements for their new website; however when SharePoint s OOB functionality proved inadequate, Bross Group in collaboration with Water Research Foundation was able to provide a great deal of customization and organizationally relevant agility to the infrastructure and interface of website. To achieve the functionality and aesthetic revamping WaterRF desired for their website, Bross Group created three separate websites. The public facing.org site was upgraded from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010 and migrated to Fortrust. This.org site serves as their public-facing website and the location from which their mountain of data can be accessed. Search Returns: To increase the relevancy of subscriber and non-subscriber search returns, Bross Group created a highly customized search system within SharePoint 2010 which incorporated: custom icons based on media type and subscriber vs. non-subscriber access; reorganization of results based on both search terms and resource media type; dramatically improved and robust filtering capabilities. Enhanced Collaboration Needs: In addition to the primary website, Bross Group created two additional websites to address both their enhanced collaboration needs as well as building an Intranet solution for WaterRF employees.through Bross Group s Managed Services and dedicated Project Management, the site has been stabilized, and best practices have been implemented, as well as ongoing SharePoint 2010 training. A website designed specifically for collaboration has also been launched, which allows internal and external parties to easily access and edit documents. Summary of Efforts: Based on collaborative efforts between WaterRF, Bross Group and a website development team, the entire look of both the external website and internal Intranet were designed to increase brand uniformity, ease of user interface and simplified navigation. These new sites all use a SharePoint 2010 foundation and are hosted offsite through Bross Group.

9 Information Technology Simplified Success: The new Water Research Foundation website and Intranet are currently up and running, improving WaterRF s ability to achieve organizational goals by leveraging SharePoint 2010 capabilities, both OOB and customized. Custom application Web Parts were able to meet all of their business requirements, as well as create a practical, useable, accessible interface for navigating their vast conglomeration of data. These upgrades and changes have resulted in a flattening of their consumption level for subscribers: instead of a series of giant reports which are hosted on their site, subscribers now benefit from agile technological improvements which provide dramatically improved access to information and the ability to consume this information in the manner most relevant to their needs. Bross Group s Managed Services model, overseen by a dedicated Project Manager, ensured implementation of the new website as well as overseeing the entire SharePoint migration process. To facilitate this transition, Bross Group has taken over all elements of their IT infrastructure, HelpDesk and sundry projects as they arise (i.e. transitioning to new Accounting Software and marrying it to their new SharePoint 2010 environment). This is a uniquely robust Managed Services project and can be turned up or down to meet client needs. Would you like an IT assessment? Contact Bross Group info@brossgroup.com brossgroup.com Delivering Results Exceeding Expectations

Investing in People IMF HR Web

Investing in People IMF HR Web Peggy Schoen, Laurie Husak, Tracy Lyall, Smitha Raju, Erik Churchill, Steve Clements, John Cass / International Monetary Fund / Washington, D.C. NEED/OPPORTUNITY Multiple