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| Datatrend Newsletter: Q2 2009 |
President's Perspective
Win By Leveraging Effective Alliances
After the challenges of 2008 and with the economic climate of
today, most organizations are focused on the objective of reducing
operating expenses, without sacrificing quality, customer
satisfaction nor long-term goals and objectives. Most of the last
eight quarterly issues of TrendSetter have tied into some aspect
of optimizing infrastructure or process. In this issue we'll
explore a variety of optimization and efficiency approaches, while
touching on some different ways to reduce costs and minimize risk.
[ read
more ]
Tips for Reducing Network Infrastructure Costs
We know how it is. You're managing IT resources over many
locations and now you're being asked to do more with less. Most of
the people I know in this industry are looking at budget cuts of
30 percent or more this year. Here's the problem: While your
budget is getting smaller, your responsibilities are getting
larger.
[ read
more ]
Adding Staff on a Budget: Consider Outside Services
Optimizing your data center involves aligning your objectives,
your needs, your staff, and your infrastructure. In today's
economy, one of the more difficult aspects of this equation may be
funding sufficient staff for your needs. You want to keep your
high-priority projects moving forward but your budget may not
allow you to hire the additional resources you need to stay on
schedule. Finding skilled IT professionals who can deliver quality
skills and management with minimal training can be a challenge.
[ read
more ]
Thinking Virtualization? Thin Computing May Be the Answer
With companies looking to economize and increase efficiency, it is
not surprising that consolidation and virtualization are the major
trends in the industry. Using fewer PCs and fewer but more
efficient servers is a clear-cut way to reduce operating costs. A
centralized system allows you to update every user's software from
a single location, secure sensitive information, and reduce cost
of ownership.
[ read
more ]
Tech Tip: SCSI Terms & Terminology
STA-Endorsed Terms & Terminology for SCSI Parallel Interface
Technology
[ read
more ]
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President's Perspective
Win By Leveraging Effective Alliances
After the challenges of 2008 and with the economic climate of
today, most organizations are focused on the objective of reducing
operating expenses, without sacrificing quality, customer
satisfaction nor long-term goals and objectives. Most of the last
eight quarterly issues of TrendSetter have tied into some aspect
of optimizing infrastructure or process. In this issue we'll
explore a variety of optimization and efficiency approaches, while
touching on some different ways to reduce costs and minimize risk.
An area most overlooked as a cost saving and risk mitigation
strategy, involves leveraging the right type of vendor
relationships. Challenging vendors to assist IT organizations by
virtue of investing in the partnership, can lead to superior
results versus more normal cost sudden bid requests issued with
little or no advanced awareness of the emerging need or project.
In situations where the product or service is commoditized, most
procurement departments submit purchase requests to more than one
vendor which usually leads to competitive pricing and most likely
some cost savings.
However, over the long haul, you will achieve better results by
having your vendors invest in your planning and brainstorming
sessions, as well as perform additional research on your behalf,
which eventually leads to more options/alternatives that fit your
business objectives, smoother project execution, and substantial
cost savings. Vendors with a partnership or strategic alliances
approach to business will make such investments, without
obligation, knowing their experience, skill, competency, and
service commitment will resonate with customers. This type of
partnership commitment or strategic alliance approach generates
more highly tuned and better prepared plans, and procurement
organizations can still manage price points to ensure the alliance
partner proposal makes economic sense.
What to Look For
Certainly, few vendors can sustain a long-term investment strategy
without capturing a reasonable percentage of awards. If the vendor
does their job well, the business will materialize. IT
organizations know which vendors have a diverse enough business
model as well as the skills and resources to comprehend enterprise
wide factors, stated objectives, constraints, budgets, and cost
factors.
Vendors that have strong channel relationships and skills in the
areas of architecture, application/solution stack literacy,
infrastructure planning, staff augmentation, and consulting
services ....stand to be of greater value and generate different
types of revenue streams. However, in order to win this type of
multidimensional set of business, the vendor must be nimble, easy
to engage and do business with, excellent in communications,
willing to take some risk (invest), and develop solutions that
clearly spell out the projected benefits.
The Benefits
Involving a strategic alliance partner (excellent vendor) as early
in the consideration stage as possible can pay huge dividends.
Some of these dividends include; the additional (no cost)
intellectual capital and expertise that the vendor will invest
over time as part of their commitment to the ongoing success of
the relationship. More importantly, your project plans and
execution will be more bullet-proof as your vendor gains a better
awareness of your environment, corporate preferences, resource
teams, and your overall expectations. At the end of the day, your
procurement organization will still ensure competitive and logical
pricing.
While most vendors have limits as to how much they can invest, if
the vendor fully understands your business and project needs, and
is competent and competitive, you have an opportunity to drive to
far better results, at competitive price points and with less
implementation speed bumps.
Datatrend's Approach
Most of the client relationships Datatrend has developed over our
22 year history include quarterly planning sessions, user group
collaborations, custom briefings and solution modeling exercises
that refine requirements and/or solution particulars. Many times
this process starts with early stage budget formation and
planning, and continues to proof of concept all the way to final
implementation work.
How are you partnering with your vendors and what are you asking
of them? The answer to this question may prompt at least a
different approach to partnering, especially with vendors truly
interested in your long-term success.
- Mark Waldrep
CEO Datatrend Technologies
mark.waldrep@datatrend.com
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Tips for Reducing Network Infrastructure Costs
 We know how it is.
You're managing IT resources over many locations and now you're
being asked to do more with less. Most of the people I know in
this industry are looking at budget cuts of 30 percent or more
this year. Here's the problem: While your budget is getting
smaller, your responsibilities are getting larger.
I'm Kevin McGrath with Datatrend Technologies and based on my
20-plus years in the business, I've pulled together three tips to
help you reduce your network infrastructure costs.
Tip 1: Consider consolidating circuits
We have many clients with 100s of stores. In many of these cases,
they have stores in the same mall under a different brand. Not
that long ago, these stores used to have separate store managers,
but with the pressure to improve margins, many of them now share
one store manager for multiple stores. The concept is being
applied across the board.
In similar fashion, each of these stores would have their own,
dedicated network circuit. Is there a reason they need to have
their own network? If they can share a store manager and save
money, they can certainly share a network connection or two, and
save even more.
The concept works even if you don't have multiple stores to
manage. If you have multiple lines coming into one store, there's
a pretty good chance that you can apply the same thinking. You'll
save hard money right away because you won't be paying for lines
you don't need, and in the long run it will save even more on soft
costs because you'll have less infrastructure to manage.
One potential issue is working with the phone companies. You know
how difficult it is to negotiate a simple task like moving a line.
I recommend using a highly experienced partner. You'll save time
and money using a provider who's been in the business for years
and knows how to navigate the phone companies on your behalf.
Which leads me to tip 2…
Tip 2: Experience and project management go a long way
When you can't do it all, you have to focus on the important stuff
– the big picture stuff. To illustrate what I mean, let me play
out a familiar scenario: You have everything planned out for an
infrastructure job; all the arrangements are made and you're on a
tight schedule….then the phone guy doesn't show up. With limited
project management, that one little misstep cascades and the
entire schedule is off, and every day you're delayed could result
in thousands of dollars of lost revenue or potential savings.
This is where good project management really comes in. Ideally,
your project managers have a relationship with different parties
involved in a project. They know how to make the most of
everyone's time. They know how to recover if things don't go as
expected. The really good project managers move things along
quickly and keep your project on time and under budget.
You can then concentrate on designing and building the best
infrastructure to meet your needs.
Tip 3: Think about total cost
When you have a network change, even something as minor as
installing a new wireless router or moving an access point can
have a big impact. How much does it cost you to send one of your
people to a location? Think in terms of time, travel expense, and
the opportunity cost of pulling them away from more important
projects. When you add it all together, it's pretty overwhelming.
Why not consider leveraging a partner who has the right resources
across the country that can be dispatched at a moment's notice for
these tactical changes/updates? You'll have one maintenance
contract that covers the actual work – no travel expenses, no
hotel bill and no per diem – and you pay for the provider only
when they're actually working for you. Not to mention your highly
skilled, internal resources stay focused on the projects that make
the biggest impact.
It's best to structure a maintenance contract that covers all of
your locations, specifies your corporate standards, and meets the
timelines you require. You can then achieve greater efficiencies,
keep your overall resource costs down, and maintain the
consistency in the work that you need.
Usually, long-term contracts get you better rates, but a lot of IT
managers don't want to lock into a long-term contract because
there's a risk that they could get a better deal if the market
gets more competitive. To mitigate that risk, I always recommend
negotiating a contract that gives you a win/win: allowing you to
take advantage of long-term pricing and a competitive marketplace.
If you meet resistance, you probably have the wrong partner.
Is Datatrend right for you?
It's hard to say until we know a little more about your needs, but
a little time is usually all it takes to know if we can help.
Plus, look at it this way, you'll know right away if you want to
work with us, so click here to contact us today.
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Adding Staff on a Budget: Consider Outside Services
Optimizing your data center involves aligning your objectives,
your needs, your staff, and your infrastructure. In today's
economy, one of the more difficult aspects of this equation may be
funding sufficient staff for your needs. You want to keep your
high-priority projects moving forward but your budget may not
allow you to hire the additional resources you need to stay on
schedule. Finding skilled IT professionals who can deliver quality
skills and management with minimal training can be a challenge.
Many IT organizations have found a successful alternative by
augmenting their staff with external IT professionals who work
under their direction and guidance on an as-needed basis. This
alternative can provide your organization with both the
flexibility to obtain resources when needed and the ability to
gear up for projects that require specialized application skills
that cannot be leveraged internally.
If you face any of these business challenges, staff augmentation
may be the answer:
- Lowering the cost of hard-to-find IT skills without
sacrificing work quality
- Being able to cost effectively adjust IT staffing
resources when and where needed on a changing and flexible basis
- Accessing leading IT skills without an investment in
training
- Ensuring that your IT staff is trained in the latest
methodologies that drive quality and speed in data center
management
Whether you need short-term consulting, temporary help with a
specific skill set or want to add additional staff for a long-term
project, Datatrend can help by providing individuals who possess
the key skills you need for a given project or initiative.
Datatrend IT staff augmentation services can help you manage
fluctuating skill needs, skills gaps and changing staffing needs
to meet your aggressive project timelines.
Datatrend operates across industries to provide contract, direct
(permanent), consulting and project management services to top
companies and their IT departments. We provide information
technology staffing services and solutions globally to Fortune
1000 and leading mid-market companies.
If you need to quickly staff a project or bring better efficiency
and effectiveness in the work process, Datatrend can help you
maintain your competitive advantage by cost-effectively delivering
highly skilled IT professionals when and how you need them most.
Whatever IT challenges you're facing, the process will be less
daunting and ultimately more successful with a knowledgeable,
seasoned partner at your side. Click here for more information about
Datatrend's staff augmentation and consulting services.
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Thinking Virtualization? Thin Computing May Be the Answer
 With
companies looking to economize and increase efficiency, it is not
surprising that consolidation and virtualization are the major
trends in the industry. Using fewer PCs and fewer but more
efficient servers is a clear-cut way to reduce operating costs. A
centralized system allows you to update every user's software from
a single location, secure sensitive information, and reduce cost
of ownership.
One strategy to achieve the benefits of consolidation and
virtualization is the use of Thin Computing. Thin Computing is a
server-centric computing model that replaces the PC with a Thin or
Zero Client, moving the application software, data and CPU power
to a network server rather than on the PC. Some of the benefits of
Thin Computing include:
- High productivity at a lower cost than traditional
methods
- Improved reliability and security of information
- Dramatically lower IT costs
- Reduced energy consumption
- Better for the environment
Thin Computing is analogous to, but much superior to, mainframe
computing using dumb terminals. Thin Computing includes hardware
services and software that work with Thin Clients, Zero Clients,
and PCs, as well as wireless devices and other systems. Everyone
in the organization receives secure access to the information and
applications needed, without requiring the desktop systems to
store them.
Thin Clients run the operating system software locally and
have no hard drives or floppy drives. Thin client computing
permits local printing, audio and serial device support, web
browsing, and terminal emulation and can combine local processing
with network computing. All software applications and data are
retrieved from a central server, and all data entered with
keystrokes and mouse clicks is saved on the same central server.
Zero Clients move all the software off the desktop to the
server. The device has no CPU, no memory, no operating system and
no drivers. Using functionality enabled by server virtualization,
zero clients deliver a complete Microsoft® Windows®
experience, including full USB support, plus a new set of
high-value features not available with desktop PC architectures.
Zero Clients cost less and do not need to be managed, allowing an
organization to reduce desktop computing costs by as much as 40
percent or more.
Datatrend provides thin client and zero client solutions,
including the devices themselves as well as the server-side
software that manages the devices and the connection between the
clients and the servers. Dealing with an experienced consultant
such as Datatrend can help you avoid many of the common pitfalls
of virtualization, dramatically enhance your productivity, reduce
administrative costs and realize a return on your investment more
quickly, with minimal impact on your network.
Click here for more information about
Datatrend's Thin Computing solutions.
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Tech Tip: SCSI Terms & Terminology
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STA-Endorsed Terms & Terminology for SCSI Parallel Interface
Technology
Notes:
(1) The listed maximum bus lengths may be exceeded in
Point-to-Point and engineered applications.
(2) Use of the word "Narrow", preceding SCSI, Ultra SCSI, or
Ultra2 SCSI is optional.
(3) LVD was not defined in the original SCSI standards for this
speed. If all devices on the bus support LVD, then 12-meters
operation is possible at this speed. However, if any device on
the bus is singled-ended only, then the entire bus switches to
single-ended mode and the distances in the single-ended column
apply.
(4) Single-ended is not defined for speeds beyond Ultra.
(5) HVD (Differential) is not defined for speeds beyond Ultra2.
(6) After Ultra2 all new speeds are wide only.
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