• Automated operations
• Eliminates need for internal IT maintenance
  
• Facilities management
  
  • US Signal Carrier Facility
    
• Systems programming
  
• Operations support/monitoring
  
• Systems support/monitoring
  
• Network support/monitoring
  
• Database support/monitoring
  
• Hardware and software services
  
• Systems and application software support
  
• Acceptance testing support
  
• System back-up and disaster recovery services
  
  • LiveVault
    
• All of the essential components and resources needed to service and maintain data center computing
  
• Consolidation, integration and migration support
  
• High-speed bandwidth
  
  • U.S. Signal
    
• Four Levels of Physical Security
  
  • Equipment Cage
    
  • Smart Card
    
  • Alarm System
    
  • Video Surveillance
    
• Conditioned facility
  
  • Redundant HVAC
    
  • Redundant UPS
    
  • Battery Backup
    
  • Diesel Generator
    
  • Fire Suppression
    
• 24x7 technical support
  
  • Provides the following technical support expertise on premises:
    
    • Operating Systems: Windows Server 2000 & 2003
      
    • Database: SQL
      
    • Networking: Cisco (various levels and specializations incl security specialization)
      
    • Server/Peripheral Hardware & Maintenance
      
    • Enterprise Application Support
      
    • Security Services including firewalls, intrusion detection, virus scanning, authentication, etc

How Data Center Outsourcing can change your business:

• Improves corporate performance
  
• Improves customer service
  
• Enables a competitive advantages/faster speed to market
  
• Gains Strategic partners
  
• Reduces costs
• Improves company·s ability to stay focused on core competencies/activities.
  
  • For many companies, running the IT infrastructure is necessary but not the crux of the business. Handing off part or even all of it to experts can liberate scarce resources for what your company does best.
• To gain access to key IT resources and skills
  
  • Data Center Outsourcing enables companies to leverage top-quality resources, hardware, software, network infrastructure, development and support staff, that are expensive to keep current, especially if your IT operations fall shy of leading edge. "One of the main benefits of outsourcing," notes United Messaging's Trowbridge, "is freeing one's organization from constant upgrades."
• To derive benefits faster
  
  • Data Center Outsourcers' operations and infrastructure are in place, so they can deliver efficiencies and benefits faster than if you build the same capability from scratch.
• To ensure stability and diminish risk
  
  • Data Center Outsourcers are prepared to respond to both anticipated and unanticipated changes in your business and have the flexibility to scale up or down as your needs dictate. So you pay only for what you use. 

Cost/Benefit Considerations

Financial

• Counteracts poor economic conditions
  
• Improved financial management
  
• Minimizes risk
  
• Creates costs predictability
  
• Reduces and controls operating costs
  
• Makes capital funds available
  
• Turns fixed costs into variable costs Capital avoidance for acquisition of hardware,
• software and facilities
  
• Controlled IT costs-choose the services you need, when you need them
  
• IT expenses can be tied to business cycles/volumes

Employees and Suppliers

• IT personnel able to maintain focus on current application suite and relevant internal needs
  
• Allows redeployment of employee assets to focus on growing your core business
  Reduces the amount of resources required to focus on IT needs and re-direct them to improve products and services
  
• Reduced need to recruit, train and retain IT professional resources
  Minimize additional IT burden/workload while Leveraging skilled DataCenter resources
  
• Less of a requirement for IT personnel to be the computer know it all, every computer technology, software, database, etc. · focus on core business . i.e. Jack of all trades, master of none- it is impossible for IT personnel to master all technologies in use today
  
• Improves productivity due to increased automation, technology refreshes and reduction in down-time
  
• Technology changes occur so quickly that IT personnel cannot keep up with the updates

Customer

• Improves quality of service as a result of more automation and process improvements
  
• Visibility of other applications at the DataCenter · what advantages are here · already have an established VPN, ability to bring other applications on-line quickly
  
• Provides the ability to ·go-to-market· quicker
  
• Enhanced levels of service at a lower cost.
  
• Industry trend -Long-term strategy IT gatekeeper utilizing Data Center Outsourcing versus a short-term IT do it all strategy

Physical

• More economical and provides greater value than attempting to replicate this capability in-house.
  
• Provides a fast, low-cost alternative for obtaining mainframe and midrange systems and related IT and network products and services from experienced industry providers.
  
• Ability to leverage service providers ·buying power· to gain a more/better access to new technology
  
• Stay abreast of leading-edge technologies
  
• Ability to upgrade technologies with little/no investment
  
• Leverage service providers economies of scale
  
• Reduces cycle times for technology refreshes
  
• Hardware and software upgrades transparent to user/client and IS community
  
• To remain competitive, resources for new hardware and software available and utilized quickly
  
• Current IT environment · turn around for hardware and software extremely difficult and slow process

Organization

• Shifts organizational focus to core competencies, customers and strategic goals rather than your IT infrastructure
  
• Decrease risks associated with more complex business processes

Risk Analysis

Some Quotes

• Outsourcing routine data center functions and/or business process work is among the   top five issues IT leaders are addressing in 2004. According to survey conducted by  Computerworld, 61% of IT leaders outsource at least 25% of IT work to third-party providers.
• A study by not-for-profit Commerce.Net found that 73 percent of small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) respondents are now outsourcing or planning to. More than half of them see outsourcing as a way to trim costs in a tough economy.
• "We believe that because of the rate of change and degree of specialization required for IT organizations, that nearly all IT organizations will outsource at least one strategic function by 2004 or 2005," says Dean Davison, Meta Group vice president.
• This signals a basic shift in how IS organizations function: they must now add a new role · brokers of outsourced IT services·to their long-term roles as internal suppliers of IT services.