Network Management

1
Network Management

• Managing Networks III
• Outsourcing and sundry implementation issues

2
Outsourcing Data Communications

• must be considered in world economic climate,
  corporatisation of government etc. as profits
  decrease and companies downsize one should ask
• what is the core business?
• are there cheaper and better ways to deliver the
  same services?
• are others able to deliver the same or better
  levels of service at a lower cost?

3
Outsourcing (contd.)

• Much depends on the nature of the business, if IT
  gives tactical or strategic advantage then it may
  not be a good idea to outsource
• Outsourcing does not just apply to IT, in the UK
  a range of services have been outsourced and
  savings if 20-30 have been reported
• Competitive tendering also improves efficiency
  with margins as high as 20 being quoted in
  Australia

4
Concerns When Outsourcing

• decide how to evaluate outsourcing options (it
  policies goals must be clear)
• business relationship with the provider
• standards and performance
• security and privacy
• intellectual property
• flexibility of contract

5
Concerns When Outsourcing

• staffing/HRM aspects
• contract monitoring and backout
• retention of strategic control planning
• investment position (asset value)
• track record of provider
• pricing structure - fixed, user pays etc.
• disposition of cash savings

6
Outsourcing IT

• IBM created Integrated Systems Solutions
  Corporation in 1991, intending to use the income
  from outsourcing to subsidise less profitable
  areas. IBM expects huge growth in this area.

7
Successful Outsourcing

• Veterans Affairs in Sydney expects net savings
  of 10,000,000 over five years, the provider
  purchased the existing equipment and retained
  over 50 of the staff
• General Dynamics in the USA announced in 1991
  that its prize wining IS function would be
  outsourced
• many other examples in the literature

8
What To Outsource?

• non-core functions
• areas with high resource needs (recurrent and
  capital expenditure)
• areas where it is expensive to attract, retain,
  retrain staff due to market fluctuations
• specialist and support areas
• New activities (diverisification)
• areas which fluctuate in load and throughput

9
Specific Outsourcing Areas

• applications programming
• systems design/development
• operations/facility management
• systems integration
• communications
• help desk
• system security (EDP audit)
• migration
• education and training

10
Is Outsourcing A Good Idea?

• can be high risk
• could achieve similar results by re-engineering
  in house functions
• many studies (e.g. Kodak) show outsourcing to be
  a philosophy rather than a plan
• of the companies who consider outsourcing fewer
  than 20 eventually opt for that route
• a good bargaining chip

11
Summary

• the network manager needs to combine hard and
  soft systems methodologies to achieve the task in
  hand, creativity matters!
• the higher level mission statements must be
  remembered
• never be distracted from tactical and strategic
  aspects by immediate technical problems
• personnel management and delegation are the key
  to success - we are concerned with why and how we
  do something rather than technical detail

12
Why Acquire?

• Assuming that the IS function is not to be
  outsourced we have to
• support new applications
• improve the performance of older applications
• reduce the cost of supporting older applications
• reconcile the needs of existing and future
  applications, quite often an overarching
  migration strategy is needed

13
The Acquisition Process

• Determining applications needed
• Specifying hardware and software requirements
• Drafting a request for proposal (RFP) and
  circulating it to possible suppliers
• Evaluating RFP responses
• Developing, negotiating and overseeing a contract

14
Multivendor Sites

• If dealing with multivendor sites then include
  interworking as a contract item. Otherwise you
  may be left with an inoperable systems while
  suppliers deny liability!
• A single vendor solution has pros and cons
• Ongoing maintenance may also be a consideration
• Remember that your solution must allow
  expansion, upgradeability and flexibility

15
Request For Proposal

• Formal document is sent to vendors and forms the
  basis for comparable tenders
• In many cases it is also a legal document
• If the RFP is inaccurate or incomplete vendors
  can not be held responsible for subsequent
  deficiencies
• If necessary engage a consultant to work on the
  RFP - then they can be liable.

16
RFP Contents

• Requestor information
• Format, content and timing for responses
• Requirements
• Evaluation criteria
• Provide examples of responses, this will lead to
  bids that are more easily comparable

17
Constraints

• Vendors needs to know about
• Hardware and software capability
• Warranties and guarantees
• Relation to organisational planning
• Financial constraints
• Time constraints

18
Who May Tender?

• It is a good idea to restrict the type of vendor
  who may respond, how long have they been
  established? What is their track record? how
  sound is their financial base?
• Price is not the sole criterion

19
RFP Contd.

• The RFP is crucial to the success of the future
  system
• It may form the basis of a legal agreement
• Extra effort spent here will pay dividends in
  terms of saved time, trouble and effort later
  down the track.

20
Evaluating Responses

• Potentially a minefield!
• Separate acceptable proposals and discard the
  rest
• Rank acceptable proposals
• Validate high ranking proposals

21
Validating Proposals

• Lengthy process, vendors make claims for products
  that need to be substantiated
• Use independent sources when possible
• For large mission critical systems it may be
  advisable to employ a team of consultants
• Modern systems are seldom solitary and validation
  of the individual parts should not be seen as
  validation of the whole system
• Standards e.g. IP-GOSIP are usually important

22
Some More (Physical) Installation Issues

• Installation involves the interaction of three
  constituents
• the physical needs of the system,
• health and safety requirements
• planning regulations
• These may be mutually antagonistic!
• These must be well researched

23
Power

• Most IS equipment is badly affected by power
  level fluctuations, power surges can be very
  dangerous and most circuit breakers are not
  sensitive enough to prevent damage
• Use surge protectors and good earthing points
• Do not couple equipment in series on the same
  side of the power supply, if one piece of kit
  burns out it may produce a voltage spike that
  will damage the rest

24
Power contd.

• Power sags are usually attributable to overloaded
  circuits - use a clean power supply and/or UPSs
• Longer term power sags (Brown outs) require power
  supplementation
• Total power loss does not usually damage
  equipment but the voltage spike caused by a
  circuit breaker may cause volatile data to be lost

25
Power contd.

• Short term delivery UPSs allow a graceful close
  down
• Ironically a move to distributed systems has lead
  to a reduction in system reliability - we do not
  usually provide a UPS for each PC
• Most PCs will tolerate a 10 variation in power
  supply - a consideration for the RFP

26
Heat Dissipation

• Computers get hot - establish the operating
  parameters of the hardware
• Some cooling is effected by fans - room air needs
  to be cooled and possibly filtered, raised floors
  may allow the movement of chilled air
• Some units are liquid cooled (e.g. Cray) others
  require individual refrigeration - check on the
  requirements and ensure that they are in the
  tender

27
Moisture

• Moisture and computing equipment do not usually
  mix well
• Humidity leads to condensation/corrosion
• Dry environments lead to static electricity which
  can damage chips
• 50 humidity is ideal
• Raised floors will mitigate the effects of floods