Reducing your organisation s operational costs

Transcription

1 White paper Reducing your organisation s operational costs NEC Australia au.nec.com

2 Managing the challenges of a multi-vendor environment Your business and your customers expect technology to deliver ever-increasing levels of productivity. Your ICT departments are constantly challenged to use people and resources more effectively to deliver results. Business leaders look to ICT departments to improve service levels and lower costs, but the increasing complexity of your ICT environment can make change difficult. Often the cost of supporting legacy infrastructure is significant, leaving few resources for innovation. Most ICT departments have to support multi-vendor environments. This can be as a result of siloed technology implementation, company acquisitions, tactical purchasing, or for many other reasons. Supporting multiple vendors is usually complicated, inefficient and expensive, and requires a lot of skill. To lower costs many organisations are adopting different service delivery models. They are reviewing their business processes and defining key areas that can be outsourced to specialist organisations with the ability to support their business outcomes within established metrics. That relieves the ICT department of significant operational workload, allowing it to focus on key business objectives. Organisations that adopt outsourcing effectively can reduce costs and increase customer performance through superior service delivery processes, shared expertise and the use of standards based services. Many ICT departments struggle simply to keep the lights on. When they migrate from legacy equipment to new systems with multi-dimensional integration requirements, there are often too many gaps and complexities to easily overcome. They need skills in information systems, desktop and mobile applications, data networking, voice and multimedia communications, security, network management, and usually many other areas. As applications converge they also need to understand integration between these components. But most organisations don t have, or can t afford to support, such a broad range of specialist skills. Managing the multitude of support and maintenance contracts linked to each vendor solution is also a complex and costly exercise. There are different pricing and reporting structures, response and resolution times, and maintenance arrangements. You spend valuable time and resources managing this non-core business function, diverting you from core business activities of greater strategic value to your company. WhitePaper NEC Australia Pty. Ltd

3 Getting smart about managing your multi-vendor support environment Managing a multi-vendor communication environment poses a number of challenges: Lack of local support Your organisation has ICT systems that have grown organically over the years as new technology has become available. Often the original supplier no longer supports the system, or there is no local support available. Unpredictable support costs Your organisation has bought and installed many ICT systems and solutions over the years. You carry spares and employ support staff to maintain these systems. Your annual support costs are high, unpredictable and not easily quantifiable. Responsibility and accountability is unclear Your organisation s ICT systems are made up of many different brands and types of equipment. You often have to arbitrate between different support agents when something fails. Responsibility and accountability is unclear. Managing multi-vendor applications You need to manage multiple support contracts with different levels of support and different renewal dates. Inefficient, reactive system management You generally wait for equipment to fail before considering your support options. When a failure occurs your organisation often suffers lengthy outages. You cannot measure performance or predict system degradation. You do not monitor system operation nor employ preventative maintenance. High operational costs Your organisation s system and infrastructure are operational, but you re not sure if they are optimised for performance and operating cost. Change management Effective management of configuration changes ensuring accurate and appropriate management of authorisations, timings and associated business impacts. So what can you do to overcome these challenges? Reactive management of a multi-vendor support environment invariably leads to performance and cost inefficiencies. You often need to set up an internal group dedicated to managing the function. There are advantages in managing the function internally, such as greater control and rapid responsiveness, but it is complex and expensive, particularly for smaller organisations. It is also highly inefficient, especially compared to the option of outsourcing. Today, most large businesses will see a reduction in operating costs of between 10 and 25 percent when they outsource, often because they are able to move to a per-user model. This enables them to reduce their capital expenditure (Capex) and make their operational expenditure (Opex) more predictable. This in turn gives them more options in the way they deploy and pay for ICT services, which means their budget can be structured to suit various financing needs. A multi-vendor service provider can take responsibility for all your ICT systems, regardless of the vendors or the technologies involved. The multi-vendor service should WhitePaper NEC Australia Pty. Ltd

4 be customised to your core business processes. Costs and service levels should be predictable, with the flexibility to scale the service and to upgrade to new technologies and capabilities as they become available. The service provider then takes care of all maintenance and contacts with the original equipment vendors. Working with an organisation that has the methodologies, processes, skills, resources and capabilities to create customised multi-vendor services delivers key benefits to your business: Reduced operating costs. Skill sets that reduce the need for scarce or expensive personnel and that can provide expert consultancy to support your operations. Maximise investment in existing technology while implementing new standards-based technology for the longer term. Best practice service delivery based on standard methodologies. Management of service delivery to pre-defined metrics. Mitigate operational risks by deploying business continuity strategies. Minimise downtime with a methodical, phased approach of planning, design and system integration. The potential to change the financing of new equipment from Capex (capital expenditure) to Opex (operating expenditure). NEC Australia s multi-vendor services NEC Australia s industry leading service delivery platform and processes manage information, data, applications and communications infrastructures, no matter which vendors they come from, how they are delivered, or where they are physically located. NEC services are vendor neutral, providing support services for a wide array of equipment and enterprise application types, brands and vendors. With just one point of contact for complete service and full support, you no longer have to pinpoint the problem before deciding who to call. It s all about protecting your ICT investment and, ultimately, your business. And there s security in knowing that if failure does occur, a team of highly trained NEC professionals are standing by to respond quickly. NEC Australia operates a service and support methodology that effectively supports virtually any type of equipment. Added to these core maintenance activities are a number of specialist services that enable us to comprehensively manage the overall service delivery across multiple platforms. Full control of the service delivery process is maintained in-house and provides the reporting and management required In addition, NEC s ability to deliver a comprehensive range of support solutions assures the necessary level of ownership to resolve the problem, no matter what the fault. WhitePaper NEC Australia Pty. Ltd

5 How NEC can help As organisations increasingly deploy multi-vendor ICT solutions there is increasing demand for multi-vendor ICT support delivered via one service organisation. NEC provides highly customised support services solution for your multi-vendor environment, with committed response and resolution times tailored to meet your unique requirements. NEC s multi-vendor support services help reduce management complexity by offering a single point of accountability for your ICT systems and solutions support and maintenance. With NEC s multi-vendor support, you will have greater confidence in your ability to deliver world-class performance to your business. NEC leverages comprehensive hardware, software and vendor management expertise, including multi-vendor escalation issues, to help you reduce risk and increase customer satisfaction. You get quick unified access to specialist technical, change management and maintenance resources, with the right training and tools required to support your telecommunications systems and networks. With one fixed price agreement covering all costs for technical support and maintenance, NEC helps you control annual support costs that, up until now, were unknown and unpredictable. With NEC, there are no unexpected expenses or surprises. NEC s multi-vendor support saves you time and resources and gives your organisation access to hard-to-find skill sets. This frees up your staff to concentrate on core business issues and eliminates unpredictable vendor service costs. When a third party vendor is involved in issue resolution, NEC takes responsibility for case managing the process. NEC s fault management database automatically prompts the case manager to follow up with the third party vendor in accordance with set timeframes and business rules. This all adds up to a total support solution that supports your organisation s business needs, and provides total visibility of the support process. NEC multi-vendor services provide: A world class service delivery platform, with methodologies and processes customised for your business needs. A strong capability across devices, communications and applications. A service platform that can quickly adapt to emerging technologies. Services can be customised based on your specific requirements, from simple system monitoring or hosting to total infrastructure outsourcing. Agreed metrics and contracted response times with regular performance management reporting. Flexible procurement and financial models, including professional and technical services. Buy or build arrangements tailored to your spending model. WhitePaper NEC Australia Pty. Ltd

6 Service models to accommodate your changing needs. Personnel who understand how to improve overall solution performance and the expertise to solve complex multi-vendor integration problems. Real time web access to report and track faults. Centralised management of multi-vendor equipment through the NEC Network Operations Centre. 24 x 7 x 365 help desk. Billing services. Spare parts provisioning. NEC a leader in multi-vendor integration and support One of the main reasons ICT organisations use multiple vendors is because of their desire to access the best technology. This best-of-breed approach usually ensures appropriate point solutions, but it means that products and services from different vendors need to be integrated and appropriately managed. NEC Australia recognises the need for a holistic, multi-vendor approach to designing, implementing and managing technology solutions for our customers. That s why we continue to invest heavily in extending our multi-vendor skills and partnerships so that our customers can deal with one reliable partner for all their end-to-end solutions and support. Our advanced capabilities enable us to: Give expert advice on the best solutions to meet specific needs and to deliver true business outcomes. Design, implement and support ICT solutions and infrastructure. Reduce risk, through our strong legacy in multi-vendor integration and expertise in delivering intelligently staged migration to new technologies. Offer you complete multi-vendor maintenance and managed services to support virtually any ICT equipment. NEC supports your business, giving you peace of mind while simplifying management and consolidating your support requirements into a single contract. Managing multiple vendors is difficult, but it is not impossible. NEC Australia specialises in the planning, installation, maintenance and management of large and complex multivendor environments. That is our core business competency helping you concentrate on yours. WhitePaper NEC Australia Pty. Ltd

7 For more information, visit au.nec.com, or call Australia Corporate Headquarters (Japan) North America (USA) Asia Pacific (AP) Europe (EMEA) NEC Australia Pty Ltd NEC Corporation NEC Corporation of America NEC Asia Pacific NEC Unified Solutions au.nec.com.au About NEC Australia Pty Ltd. NEC Australia is a leading technology company, delivering a complete portfolio of ICT solutions and services to large enterprise, small business and government customers. NEC Australia helps customers gain greater business value from their technology investments. NEC Australia specialises in communications solutions and services in multi-vendor environments, including systems integration, specialist communications solutions, data networking, unified communications and collaboration, biometrics, digital signage and display solutions. Its IT solutions services comprise business and IT transformation consultancy, professional services, application and solutions development and infrastructure and applications managed services. For more information, visit NEC Australia at au.nec.com NEC Australia Pty Ltd reserves the right to change product specifications, functions, or features, at any time, without notice. Please refer to your local NEC representatives for further details. Although all efforts have been made to ensure that the contents are correct, NEC shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages resulting from the use of the equipment, manual or any related materials. The information contained herein is the property of NEC Australia Pty Ltd and shall not be reproduced without prior written approval from NEC Australia Pty Ltd. Copyright 2013 NEC Australia Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. NEC, NEC logo, and UNIVERGE are trademarks or registered trademarks of NEC Corporation that may be registered in Japan and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Printed in Australia. Note: This disclaimer also applies to all related documents previously published.