Saving Money With Data – Data Video On Things You Need to Know About Big Data
Can big data be a money saving tool? Well, if you look at this data video, you can see some quick easy tips on data and how to save money.
Is All-Flash Storage the Next Step for Government Data Centers?
It’s no secret that the amount of data government agencies must store is increasing at a rapid rate- and this growth shows no signs of slowing. But government agencies can’t just build more data centers to house this data – there must be a more efficient and cost-effective solution. In this Q&A, Melanie Stevens, Director, State and Local Government and Education, discusses why all-flash is an important next step in the storage evolution for government agencies.
Q: What is all-flash and why is it important for government agencies to consider? Melanie Stevens: Many government agencies are facing a storage dilemma in their data centers. Their need for storage is growing, but there is insufficient funding to purchase new equipment and limited budget for IT staff, space, power and cooling. Across the data center, we see increasing speed and lower cost in many networking devices, such as servers and switches. However, storage has failed to keep up because of the way mechanical disk works. Capacity and cost have grown, but performance has stayed flat. Because of this, the performance per gigabyte of disk is getting slower. Flash memory is faster, has more space and is much more power efficient than disk. The Pure Storage all-flash storage array meets the availability, reliability and scalability requirements of government agencies. It reduces flash storage to a price point that makes it cost effective for distributed deployments. Our all-flash storage array is cost competitive and more efficient to administer than disk, so it’s a logical next step for government data centers.
Q: What are some of the major challenges all-flash can help government agencies overcome? Melanie Stevens: In the past decade, we’ve seen the widespread adoption of virtualization in the data center. This has had an amazing impact on the efficiency of how state agencies do business. Server consolidation now supports ratios around 20-to-1 per physical server, and that number climbs with every new release of a processor. For government agencies, this means being able to do more with less, and faster. At the same time, virtualization creates its own challenges for storage. Virtualization is only as efficient as the storage on which it runs, and it requires more resources than the pre-virtualization era. This issue is compounded by applications such as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), which is commonly used to support kiosks, mobile workforces and online services offered by state agencies. While government agencies have realized ROI from server consolidation, they have to turn around and spend those savings on additional storage. As end users continue to virtualize more applications, disk arrays will only get more expensive and put government agencies further behind in the budget battle. Pure Storage provides the technology that allows government to maximize the benefits of virtualization, without inflated storage costs. So, whether the application is to manage database requirements, virtual desktop or server infrastructure, our all-flashstorage array allows for maximum performance without the usual backend cost.
Improved Utilization of the Ticketing System Results in Savings of $75,000 per Year – Save With Data
Redesign and Tuning of Business Systems Optimizes Growth
Growing the business is the goal for most organizations. Managing that growth becomes difficult while managing and meeting the day-to-day business goals. Cliintel provides real world experience to facilitate operational improvements, create best practices and take businesses to their next level of success.
The Client:
A leading provider of insurance for new housing construction as well as appliance and home warranty services had experienced exponential growth. This growth began taxing internal systems, specifically the IT department’s trouble-ticketing system.
The Business Issue:
When organizations experience extreme business surges, much of their time, money, focus and resources are spent upgrading and adding customer facing applications while internal systems are pushed to their limits, or even neglected. The client’s IT department found itself needing to support both a myriad of new tools on multiple platforms, as well as an onslaught of new employees. The rudimentary trouble ticketing system they had been using for years was not capable of responding to the rapid growth. The increased utilization of the ticketing system soon revealed that the system and associated processes did not support adequate problem identification, timely resolution or proactive trend reporting. Furthermore, established and ‘rightsized’ Service Level Agreements had not been baselined or followed and resulting in longer than necessary system outages and downtime.
The new and improved utilization of the ticketing system resulted in a cost savings of $75,000 per year and created an enterprise repository and improved management of resources.
The Approach:
Utilizing Cliintel’s INSIGHT methodology, the team took a holistic view of the client’s business operations, and through a series of end-user interviews and operational observations, gathered system and user requirements. Existing contractual commitments required that the client continue to use the existing trouble-ticketing system. Cliintel examined the existing system and identified features and functionality not being used and presented a plan to modify and upgrade current versions to meet the growing needs of the client.
The Solution:
Cliintel worked with the trouble-ticketing vendor to complete system reinstallation and improved report development. The trouble-ticketing system was redeployed with appropriate support, documentation and procedures. Cliintel established modified procedures and standards to facilitate disciplined ticket management.
The Results:
The reimplementation of the trouble ticketing system enabled the client to reduce system outages and proactively prevent future outages from occurring. The new and improved utilization of the ticketing system resulted in a cost savings of $75,000 per year and created an enterprise repository and improved management of resources.
We’re proud to help our clients solve tough problems and achieve stunning results. To see what kind of results Cliintel can deliver for you, please visit www.cliintel.com or e-mail askcliintel@cliintel.com.
Business Optimization, Customer Satisfaction and ROI
In the continuously evolving world of business, perfection is a moving target. Companies design processes to provide services, manufacture products, or deliver on promises to customers efficiently and effectively, within time and budget constraints. But in just the time between process design and implementation, the marketplace changes. Keep business optimization in mind to keep your organization moving forward.
It’s a virtual certainty that there’s room for improvement in even the most elegant process or system. Don’t rest on your laurels when it looks like things are humming along. Instead, to optimize business, examine the data and metrics you’ve gathered and see how your company is performing against expectations and against industry peers. With an open mind and expert guidance, you’ll find opportunities that can transform the organization.
Establish Business Optimization Goals
Ultimately, every company should seek greater customer satisfaction. A business optimization effort designed to increase customer satisfaction will increase your competitive advantage and may allow you to enter new markets. Of course, increased profitability is an eternal goal for any business. By continuously improving existing processes, a business optimization project can reduce costs, reduce defects, improve productivity, or increase revenues for a demonstrable return on investment.
Select Business Optimization Opportunities
As you pursue growth and improvement, the smartest first step is to engage a seasoned business optimization adviser. Your adviser’s objectivity and expertise will help you identify high-impact opportunities. Draw on your business intelligence – a combination of company key performance indicators, performance compared to your industry, and what you learn every day from customers. Work with your adviser to analyze this data annually with find high-potential, cross-functional areas for improvement that aligns with your long-term strategic goals.
Ensure Business Optimization Success
Business optimization begins with the right people and the right methodology. Your trusted advisor will help analyze your situation and identify improvement opportunities, but that shouldn’t be the end of the engagement. Maintain a consultative relationship between the advisor and the internal employees who developed the process that will be improved, and who will carry the business optimization forward.
Once you’ve identified the project, pursue business optimization by applying a systematic approach using the appropriate methodology. Six-sigma projects achieve long-term defect reduction where the final outcome may be unknown. Other opportunities may call for a more direct or immediate approach.
Gathering the right business optimization team is a critical piece of the puzzle. Seek out subject matter experts on the processes that will be addressed. Your team should be a blend of people with open minds who will consider alternative solutions, along with devil’s advocates who will keep the group grounded.
Be sure to establish controls in the project that will allow you to demonstrate improvement. Whether your investment is just the team’s time, or the significant expense of a new automated system, you must prove a return on that investment. Incorporate controls that will point out the project’s impact on business metrics such as increased productivity, reduced cost, or greater customer satisfaction. Proper controls will allow you to monitor progress along the way and make adjustments if needed. Ultimately, these controls will prove business optimization results, whether that means getting an under-performing organization up to target, or moving from satisfactory performance to an industry leadership position.
Finally, celebrate success. Business optimization is a time-consuming effort that deserves recognition. Honor the people involved and their achievements. In addition to raising team morale, you’ll build enthusiasm for the current successful project, and for future business optimization efforts.
Business Optimization, Customer Satisfaction & ROI – by Lucile Williams, Six Sigma Master Black Belt
Visit Cliintel at www.cliintel.com
Successful Change Management – Communicating Process Change
Change management can be a difficult process for even the most seasoned leader. Executives rise to positions of authority by solving problems, and their approach to change management may reflect that impulse: identify a solution to a given problem, assemble the staff, and share plans for the new process, emphasizing bottom-line benefits. While this is a logical plan of attack, it may not account for the many human concerns that come into play when significant change is at hand.
There is a better way to approach change management, and it doesn’t involve ordering copies of “Who Moved My Cheese?” for all employees. Effective communication will help you promote change more effectively and keep pain to a minimum. Key points to consider when contemplating change management include:
Communicate early and often: Team members focused on their day-to-day responsibilities may not be aware of a problem that is apparent to management, or may simply accept it as part of the status quo. In such cases, solutions often appear to be change for the sake of change. By socializing the existence of the problem and soliciting ideas and feedback from those who will be affected, management will ensure that the team understands the need for action and is invested in decision-making. It may be especially valuable to bring in a skilled change management consultant who can address issues from an unbiased perspective and ask critical questions that employees may prefer to sidestep.
Communicate with your ears: Once the decision has been made and communicated, company leaders are much more likely to turn change opponents into proponents if they actively listen and respond to the concerns of those most impacted. Two-way discussion and communication are essential ingredients of successful change management.
Communicate the big picture: When a change must be made, it may not be feasible or appropriate to involve everyone in the necessary decisions. In such situations, effective change management depends on clearly explaining why the decision is being made and what impact it will have. Team members are concerned with customer experience, product quality, and employee satisfaction as well as the bottom line. That means leadership must address the impacts on all areas of the company. Presenting the effects of the change honestly and as positively as possible will help team members understand how the change impacts the company as a whole. In large organizations, members of one work group frequently do not understand how their activities relate to others. Seeing the big picture will help them become active change management participants.
Communicate the little picture: Employees are more likely to embrace and contribute to successful change management if they receive honest information about the direct impact the changes will have on their activities, work relationships and pocketbooks.
In the digital age, our paradigms are shifted, our cheese moved, and our concept of reality altered on a daily
basis by relentless technological, societal, and business change. This can be overwhelming, and even the most
dedicated employee may wonder whether he or she really needs to adapt to every disruption that comes along. Truly
successful change management requires that companies help employees and customers understand change, accept
it and thrive in today’s dynamic business environment.
To learn more about change management, please e-mail askcliintel@cliintel.com.
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