IT leadership & innovation
COPING WITH DOWNSIZING Headaches for IT team managers
JUN/JUL 2015 VO L .3 NO. 5 PP100009359
Futureproof your enterprise
Build your own cyberlab
The digital paradigm shift
It’s easy to become a little cynical about what appear to
j u n / j u l
‘digital transformation’ is a buzzword that has become part of the furniture, and it has come to mean many different things to different people. For some, it is the move away from manual, paper-based procedures to electronic processes. For others, it means moving data and applications into the cloud to make them more easily accessible to far-flung staff. A clear indication of the importance of the digital transformation is the federal government’s intention to establish a Digital Transformation Office to improve productivity and service delivery and make government/ public interactions easier. Those same ambitions apply equally to SMEs and larger private enterprises. In conducting the interviews for this issue’s From the Frontline feature on digital transformation, I was struck by the impact new technologies are having on
2 0 1 5
INSIDE
be the latest ‘fads’. The term
10 | 12 | 16 | 18 |
Tablet devices boost field service efficiency
29 | 32 | 34 | 37 | 38 |
Network monitoring ensures smooth operations
Go on the attack with your own cyberlab Agile systems ride the wave of disruption Australian healthcare - a SMART IT approach End-to-end delivery with service management Cyberattack Service management solution Futureproof your enterprise ... or pay the price
enterprise operations in terms of efficiency gains; staff and customer satisfaction; and bottom-line performance. Digital transformation is far from being a ‘fad’ - it’s a driving force in today’s ICT world.
cover image: © Aurelio/Dollar Photo Club
Jonathan Nally, Editor
F E A T U R E S 04 | Small sacrifices
22 | Paradigm shift Organisations are downsizing their IT departments, creating headaches for those leading the teams.
26 | Converged infrastructures Choosing the right networking infrastructure means reconciling contradictory technology trends.
Old business models and methods are tumbling as digital transformation changes the world.
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3
w w w . t e c h n o l o g y d e c i s i o n s . c o m . a u
Small sacrifices Coping with downsizing Andrew Collins
Organisations are downsizing their IT departments, creating headaches for those leading the teams. 4
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Hugh Ujhazy, a director at IDC Australia,
These spending figures also signal a change
explained the results regarding executives’
in the broader function of the IT depart-
priorities in 2015: “The highest of the CEO
ment within the organisation.
goals in 2015 was operational efficiency (19.5%), followed by a desire to increase
“Combined with a trend to move non-core
the share of customer wallet (16.1%) and
functions to either managed solutions
the ability to deliver company-wide cost
(Office365 for office and email functions,
savings and increase the level of customer
WebEx and similar solutions for audio and
engagement.
video, collaboration solutions by Microsoft Lync and Cisco UCS) or completely to the
“This trend follows from what we have seen
cloud, [this means] that IT is less about
in the past as companies seek to do more
technology delivery and more about ena-
with less and leverage their relationship
bling of business function,” Ujhazy said.
with existing customers and channels to build market share and revenue without
According to IDC’s analysis, the majority
necessarily increasing spend,” Ujhazy said.
of the overall IT budget is still being allocated to governance and IT operations.
Interestingly, the concerns and goals of
But, Ujhazy said, “IT departments are
executives responding to the survey “re-
universally recognising their need to act
“Companies with larger IT departments are pushing their people into the market and looking towards managed services
© peshkov/Dollar Photo Club
and the cloud as a way to offset skills shortages.”
T
mained pretty well aligned across company
more as an innovator than as an account-
size and industry vertical”, Ujhazy said. In
ant in supporting the business.”
other words, this desire to squeeze value from every dollar was observed across
This brings us back to the shrinking IT
the board.
department.
The shrinking of the IT department - as
“The net effect of all this is that IT de-
well as the “outsourcing of IT functions
partments are tending to be smaller across
he IT department is shrinking,
to the line of business” - follows on from
the board,” though this is most prevalent
as a result of a wider move from
that executive desire for value, accord-
in companies with between 100 and 500
senior management to squeeze
ing to Ujhazy. This handing off of IT
employees, Ujhazy said.
value from every dollar the
responsibilities from the IT department
organisation spends. That’s according to the latest C-Suite
to the rest of the business is evident
Those companies with larger IT depart-
in the spending figures for different
ments are pushing their people into the
departments.
market and looking towards managed services and the cloud as a way to offset
Survey from analyst firm IDC. The survey canvasses the opinions of C-level
“In Australia, we are seeing that 40% of IT
the skills shortages that are still in effect
executives, asking them about their goals
spending is driven by the line of business
in Australia and New Zealand, Ujhazy said.
and challenges in the coming year. This
and that CIOs are increasingly partnering
year it included more than 300 people in
with COOs, CMOs and CFOs in driving
“We expect this trend to continue as de-
Australia and 1400 across the Asia Pacific
the technology solutions they implement,”
mands from the business for a technology
(excluding Japan).
Ujhazy explained.
partnership with IT increase and managed
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5
also be comfortable collaborating in mul-
CAPEX model for technology services to
tidisciplinary teams, rather than functional
a much more OPEX focused one,” he said.
or technical silos,” she wrote.
Those IT departments that have shrunk are
Even in that ideal scenario, with such talented
experiencing several ramifications. IDC is
and capable workers, small IT departments
seeing fewer people (especially in the mid-
“will never have the bandwidth to pursue
© Aurelio/Dollar Photo Club
cloud solutions enable the move from a
market) focused on maintaining network, compute and storage infrastructure, as their companies move towards the cloud and offpremise for things like email, office function and collaboration. “As a result, IT people
all six disciplines as extensively as more generously endowed organisations”. As such, these smaller departments must understand what constitutes a “good enough” standard in each of the six areas and be “comfort-
are accelerating the move toward business
But that’s not really the case, at least according
able leaving well enough alone” once that
outcomes as their guiding metrics,” though
to analyst firm Gartner. In a recent research
standard is reached, Young said.
Ujhazy notes that this is a move that started
paper, Gartner analyst Colleen M Young
some years ago.
argued that small IT teams actually have
How to cope
to do most of the same things as large IT
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. If
“That being said, IT is not in danger of
teams, but without the resources the larger
your department has been downsized, but
becoming a collective of management con-
teams have access to.
you’re still expected to meet the same needs
sultants anytime soon and the transition is
as you did before, the analysts reckon it’s
taking time. We see it accelerating in 2015
Young said that there are six “pillars of
possible - but you’ll need to make some
but by no means done.”
capability” that every IT organisation must
changes to how you run things.
have in order to succeed, regardless of its He added that the nice thing for the IT teams
size, industry or geography. There are three
The following is a collection of advice from
is “they have a wider range of solutions to
primary pillars (enterprise architecture, IT
two analysts - IBRS analyst Alan Hansell and
choose from, which means that their only
service management, governance) and three
Gartner’s Colleen M Young - on running a
response is no longer a CAPEX justification
secondary pillars (project management,
small IT team while trying to address the
- they can now examine key technologies
program management, investment portfolio
same problems that big teams deal with.
and make a determination of how business
management).
Note that the advice isn’t necessarily geared
needs are best met (in source, on premise, off premise, cloud, SaaS and so forth)”.
at downsized IT teams, just small ones - so In organisations with plenty of resources
it may also be useful to those who haven’t
to throw around, there would be a team or
been downsized, but are simply in charge
One size fits all
structure dedicated to and responsible for
of a smaller team that’s being asked to do
Keeping an IT department going after a
each of these six areas, according to Young.
big things.
downsizing can be tough. How’s an IT
Each team would have specialised expertise
department meant to keep the lights on
and pursue best practices and continuous
First up, Hansell provides 10 tips to help
- and hitting all the performance metrics
improvement within its own area.
small businesses and agencies better manage
handed down from on high - when senior management keeps showing staff the door?
their use of IT. He recommends that smaller But smaller organisations “don’t have the
IT departments:
luxury of dedicated teams, functionally To answer that question, forget downsizing
aligned resources or top-heavy ‘best prac-
for a moment, and think more generally
tices’”, Young wrote.
about the differences between large IT de-
6
1. Minimise the number of vendors and service providers for business systems, operating systems and services.
partments and small IT departments. At
“They must pursue the core, required ca-
face value, it may seem that the two are very
pabilities more organically, and their people
2. If evaluating an ERP, choose a vendor
different beasts, with different expectations
must be literate in multiple areas simulta-
that provides ERP as a service to avoid
from the business and different problems
neously. Workers must be both extremely
supporting the technical environment,
to solve.
capable and extremely versatile. They must
including release upgrades.
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7
3. Ensure the CIO or equivalent is a member of the SLT (senior leadership
“How ’s an IT department meant to keep the lights on - and
team) so they can shape the leadership’s
hitting all the performance metrics handed down from on high
thinking about how IT can help gain a
- when senior management keeps showing staff the door?”
competitive edge. 4. Make no changes for functional enhance-
available resources, and that optimisation
Avoid process reference models. According
ments to business systems, in order to
requires a clear understanding of purpose
to Young, small IT teams can’t afford process
maintain software version currency and
and outcomes. There must be a very clear
improvement for the sake of it, “which is
facilitate fast resolution of operational
definition of what needs to be done, the
what reference models like ITIL, COBIT
failures.
priority of each of these needs and how
and Capability Maturity Model Integrated
the success of these tasks will be measured.
(CMMI) tend to devolve into”.
to identify how to best use the technology
For change programs and projects, success
These models “lack performance context”,
and business system and maximise the
should be quantified in terms of specific
Young said. They assume that the specific
expected benefits.
goals or outcome measures. The success of
set of processes they address are the most
5. Attend vendor briefings and user groups
services that IT offers to the business, on the
important and that any improvement in
6. Use external providers for specialist
other hand, should be judged in terms of
those processes is worthwhile.
services such as network architecture,
measurable service-level agreements (SLAs). “They implicitly advocate a management
development of tenders and to acquire “Together, the project metrics and SLAs
orientation of continuous process im-
constitute the performance management
provement. As a result, none of them are
7. Give staff an incentive to develop multiple
context against which IT orchestrates its
comprehensive, covering the full range of
skills so there is support coverage in an
resources and capabilities. Without these,
IT processes, and none of them will tell
emergency or major systems outage.
resource optimisation is literally impossible,”
you whether you are working on the right
Young wrote.
processes, when they are ‘good enough’, or
disaster recovery capability.
when to stop,” Young wrote.
8. Use cloud for delivery of commodity services such as email and workplace
‘Projectise’ work. Young advises that the
collaboration solutions to avoid deploy-
best way for small IT teams to make full use
She advises that small IT teams should not
ing scarce, but skilled, staff.
of every resource is to “projectise as much
invest further in processes that support goals
work as possible”, and the best way to do
IT is already achieving. “If you are achieving
that is to adopt a “professional services or
your goals, then those processes are already
repertoire IT model”.
good enough. If they aren’t broken, then
9. Adopt a zero-based budgeting approach for workforce planning, to justify why the
don’t try to fix them.”
work days that are expected are needed, and to stop marginal value projects.
A model of this nature involves “acquiring a portfolio of skills or competencies,
That said, if IT is not meeting its defined
10. Make IT initiatives as transparent as pos-
understanding the depth and breadth of
goals, then “understanding the processes that
sible so all stakeholders are kept informed
people’s individual and collective capabili-
drive your outcomes, and which ones are
of developments - for example, when a
ties, and developing work intake processes
broken, is crucial”. If you find that a broken
project’s priority is changed by the SLT.
that ensure enough is understood about the
process is indeed addressed in a reference
nature of demand so that the right resources
model like ITIL, then Young suggests you
Gartner’s Young also has some advice for
with the right skills can be assigned in the
leverage that reference model.
the smaller IT department. She recommends
right quantities to the right work streams,”
that small or resource-constrained teams:
Young wrote.
Define clear performance goals. According
This approach helps ensure that available
almost certainly make process improvement
to Young, running a small IT team is all about
resources are optimally allocated to the
your goal rather than a means to a defined
optimising what you can get out of your
established priorities.
performance outcome”.
But until you know what’s broken, Young advises you avoid those models, “or you will
8
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work
Tablet devices boost field service efficiency
E
lectricity distributor and retailer Ergon Energy has
Jason Ledbury, program director for field force automation,
launched a major field operations automation project,
Ergon Energy, said, “We as an energy provider have a responsibility
with the first phase seeing the rollout of 500 Panasonic
of providing the most efficient services to the community. We
Toughpad FZ-G1 rugged tablets into a wide array of
also realised there is going to be much more competition in the
varying vehicle types and configurations. The Toughpads had to
retail electricity market driving more customer service work,
meet strict selection criteria to ensure they were fit for purpose
and with our old processes it would have been difficult for us
in the harsh environments that workers face on a daily basis.
to scale up without requiring more resources. Therefore, we
A Queensland Government-owned corporation, Ergon supplies electricity to around 700,000 homes and businesses
identified the need to revamp our processes by empowering our workforce with technology.”
across nearly 97% of the state. For many years, it has conducted
Ledbury said that the new Toughpads - coupled with an
its field operations through manually intensive paper-based
extensive systems integration solution and enhanced processes
methods. Work was distributed through a process involving many
- are already saving Ergon workers up to as much as 45 minutes
people, which culminated in work dockets being printed out at
on the job per day.
depots around the state and then handed over to the field crews.
A critical factor for Ergon was that the Toughpad needed to
The field crews then travelled to grid locations to fix faults
be safely and securely mounted in a wide array of field vehicles. In
and captured new information from the site on paper. Once
collaboration with partners Data#3 and Advanced Mobile IT (AMIT),
the work was completed, paper records were returned to the
Ergon’s technology provider, SPARQ Solutions, worked closely with
depot staff to be updated in the central system. The process
Ergon field crews to develop a mounting solution for each vehicle
was time-consuming and, because it was paper-based with
configuration that would meet strict government safety standards.
multiple people involved, it was easy for information to be lost
The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 is made specifically for
or recorded incorrectly.
harsh environments such as those the Ergon field crews face daily. It is designed to endure high temperatures, drops and knocks, thick dust and heavy rain. For a business, the ability to use enterprise-ready software is as important as the hardware itself. Data#3 supported Ergon by managing the software implementation and delivery with ready-to-go Windows 7 and Ergon’s own mobility solution, ABB Service Suite. Ergon has re-engineered its processes, removing multiple handling and resulting in better prioritisation and allocation of work. Using the devices’ 3G/4G mobile connectivity module, the field crews are now able to access information that was previously only available in the office or through a library of paper manuals held in their vehicles. Additionally, access to live data, emails, intranet and internet also assists in improving the flow of information to and from the field. “We have noticed an increased efficiency through optimised processes and are now in a position to cope with a greater volume of work. We will continue to roll out new work types using the Toughpad FZ-G1,” said Ledbury.
10
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2
PEER PEER The testing of applications and hardware becomes easy with a virtual lab.
Go on the attack with your own cyberlab
M
anaged service providers
As an example of what you can find
(MSPs) or IT departments
with your own cyberlab, I spent the past
wanting to research and
month assembling some typical SME
provide security services
hardware devices and examining their
and solutions should seriously consider
security features, and found that not a
setting up their own cyberwarfare research
single device demanded a change from
lab that replicates their small business serv-
the default password. As a basic pay-
ers and workstations. The idea is to then
ment card industry (PCI)-compliance
‘virtually’ infect the servers, break worksta-
requirement, all of these devices fail
tions and experiment with configurations,
out of the box unless you spend some
vulnerabilities and features. It’s a bit of an
time changing defaults. These features
undertaking, but it can be invaluable in
all ‘work’, but what they don’t do is
understanding all the complex layers of
work securely.
the modern network while providing the MSP or IT department the opportunity to
SME IT departments and MSPs are going
plan and document security best practices.
to be successful only if they can provide secure, predictable and reliable systems
With customers and security professionals
for their customers. The opportunity to
demanding more integrated solutions, se-
experiment with configurations and sys-
curity features are increasingly being built
tem changes with no risk to production
into network printers, UPSes, wireless ac-
networks is a huge value-add. So simply
cess points, switches and, of course, actual
being able to understand what typical
firewalls. These features are switched off
network activity looks like between a
by default, which has given rise to some
domain controller and workstations
interesting internal vulnerabilities - such
can help troubleshoot the most difficult
as lockouts, bricks or denial of service of
customer support calls.
devices and networks. The ability to test back-up and disaster
12
Ian Trump is Security Lead at LogicNow, a global provider of cloud-based IT security and solutions for the managed services provider community.
From a practical learning perspective, the
recovery plans, new or updated applica-
SME network looks the same no matter
tions and new hardware becomes very
what sort of business it is. Every business
easy with just a small investment in
has some sort of server/file-share set-up,
your own virtual lab. It is important
with workstations and firewall/router and
to replicate the environment that you’re
core switch - even if that switch is the four
likely to encounter so you can observe
ports on the back of a router. Most SMEs
the consequences of dangerous configu-
also have wireless of some sort, possibly
rations, hostile infections and malicious
built into the router or firewall. Today,
activity. The key here is to look at the
it would also be a pretty rare scenario
mitigations against those threats and
where the business did not have at least
understand how the environment might
one network-attached printer.
be secured.
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Guest keynotes Human Risk Management — The Key to Organizational Success David Turner Risk Management and Corporate Governance Specialist Dealing with the Dark Side Christine Nixon Former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police
KEY
Agile systems needed to ride the wave of disruption
WORDS
Y
ou would have to have been living
3. Facilitate customer service, includ-
under a rock to have not heard
ing new services and apps. Can you
about Uber and Airbnb and the
optimise your service operations with
disruption they are causing the
integrated enterprise service manage-
taxi and hotel industries around the world.
ment (ESM) software with mobility
No industry is immune from the Uber ef-
support? If not, how will you empower
fect. Potentially disruptive technologies go
your customers?
way beyond online information services and
4. Present information tailored to
include 3D printing, drones, next-generation
people’s roles in an easy-to-use way.
batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, wearable de-
As more information becomes available,
vices and the Internet of Things.
can you easily distil it down to what is needed for a particular job role or project
Your organisation needs three things to
and present it in a user-friendly way?
benefit from disruption and not fall victim
5. Support digital devices that can be
to it: you must know your business and be
used everywhere and anytime. Is your
prepared to change; be agile and respond
ERP system accessible and useable across
quickly, as changes are hard to predict; and
all devices - from PCs to laptops, tablets,
employ low-drag systems which push you
smartphones and smart watches - and
forward, not hold you back.
easily extendable to new devices? 6. Quickly integrate new technologies
Basically, to ride the wave of disruption
relevant to your business. Integrating
- which can supercharge business growth
disruptive technologies into existing
when identified and employed effectively -
business systems presents challenges. Is
you need an agile system and you need to
your supplier continually demonstrating
work like mad. How do you know if your
new solutions to overcome challenges
system is agile? In IFS’s experience, your main
as they arise?
run-the-business system or ERP application
7. Be easily tailored to adapt to changes
should meet the following seven criteria.
in your business. Expensive customisa-
1. Give visibility into and integrate infor-
tion - when deploying systems or adapt-
mation across the enterprise. You can’t
ing them to business changes - are a drag
change or improve what you can’t see.
on agility. To enable change, minimise
To truly know your business, you need to
customisation and use systems that are
consolidate all your financial and operational
easily configured to meet new business
information into a single system.
requirements.
2. Provide a ‘single source of truth’ for
16
operations in real time. If information is
Ensure that your ERP system meets
not real time, it cannot drive new services
these seven key criteria and, like Uber,
or processes in real time. Capturing infor-
you will be well on the way to riding
mation at the source and communicating
the wave of disruption and not being
it immediately is vital.
wiped out by it.
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Rob Stummer is Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand for global enterprise applications company IFS. He holds a Master in Information Technology from Melbourne University and has acted as a consultant to many of the region’s top 500 companies.
Siemon’s
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W W W
.
S I E M O N
.
C O M
A N A LY S E
THIS
T
Australian healthcare a SMART IT approach
he role of IT across Australian
S - Scalable. Healthcare providers are in-
healthcare has evolved over the past
terested in solutions that enable quick and
few years, from merely enabling
easy expansion. Systematic deployment of
automation to effecting integration
IT across departments, connectivity between
across the healthcare delivery value chain.
disparate systems and rapid expansion of
Data is considered the single most important
provider facilities all contribute to the need
resource; therefore, healthcare providers are
for scalable solutions and are driving the
most interested in collating accurate and
market for cloud in healthcare.
comprehensive patient information. M - Measures-oriented. A key objective The Australian healthcare IT sector is ex-
of investment is data collection and per-
pected to reach a value of $1.2 billion by the
formance benchmarking. Well-designed
end of 2015, making it the second-largest
analytics solutions that capture vital infor-
market in the Asia-Pacific after Japan. Spend-
mation to affect process improvement are
ing on IT, however, is not in proportion with
in demand, creating a need not just for the
the benefits or improvements experienced
solutions but also consulting services.
across the health system. A high degree of fragmentation is plaguing the industry.
A - Accountable. Quality of healthcare
Health data and services are not seamlessly
continues to be questioned in spite of
connected across regions, facilities or various
a much higher level of data capture for
levels of care, and consumers face challenges
accountability purposes. Australia needs
such as unwanted repeated diagnostic tests,
patient-centric data-capturing mechanisms
misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, insufficient
that include indicators of the care quality
long-term care and even medical errors.
and customer experience.
Another challenge is the large amount of
R - Real-time. Demand for real-time data
wastage across healthcare providers. There
at non-conventional sites is increasing
are grave inefficiencies across hospital
fast amongst health professionals. Mobile,
inventories, management of devices and
smartphone and tablet access to patient data
consumables, and even staff scheduling. Even
and hospital solutions is the call of the day.
processes are reported to be inefficient, with staff spending their time on unproductive
T - Transformational. Expectations from
activities such as searching for devices or
IT systems have risen beyond providing
manually capturing patient notes.
efficiency to transforming the way care is delivered, particularly in remote areas
18
In meeting these challenges, vendors need to
where healthcare access is a challenge. New
think about the value that their technologies
models of care delivery and payment are
bring not just to a single client but to the
expected to be supported by the necessary
healthcare system as a whole. This is where
combination of devices, sensors, software
SMART IT comes in.
and connectivity platforms.
This issue is sponsored by — www.eaton.com/powerquality
Natasha Gulati is an Industry Manager with the Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Healthcare Practice. She focuses on monitoring and analysing emerging trends, technologies and market behaviour in the connected health industry across ASEAN, Australia-New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and works closely with teams in India and China.
19
FROM THE FRONTLINE Paradigm shift
How digital is transforming business
Jonathan Nally
Old business models and methods are tumbling as digital transformation changes the world.
22
This issue is sponsored by — www.eaton.com/powerquality
T
he term ‘digital transformation’
where it is heading, it’s Greg Stone, leader of
come back and they’d have a paper-based
has been coined to describe the
digital services at building and engineering
system,” he said. “But now we have the ability
move towards the provision of
firm Arup. Until recently, Stone was chief
to send a drone up and down the tunnel
services via digital means. It’s a
technology officer for Microsoft Australia,
with a multisensor camera… and then we
term that means different things to different
and he reminds us of the distinction between
can use big data and artificial intelligence
people. For some, it means going paperless;
digitising information and digitalising it.
and machine learning to start understanding
for others it means new ways of gathering
what the changes are in that data.
information; and for still others it means
“A lot of people have understood the benefits
new ways of communicating.
of digitising something,” he said. “So you
“That kind of example is emblematic of
see that manifested in people taking offline
what kind of advantages you can get when
And it’s being taken seriously by entities of
forms and then digitising them so that
you go digital in the right way,” said Stone.
all shapes and sizes. The Australian federal
they’re PDFs online, and people can then
government is establishing a Digital Trans-
download them or fill in a web form. But
Keeping in touch
formation Office that “will be responsible for
actually not a lot changes - it’s just a more
A very different kind of business is Feros
digital service delivery across government”
efficient way of doing what they did before.”
Care, a not-for-profit organisation that
and “transform government services, making services available digitally from start to finish”.
provides healthcare and monitoring services And then there’s digitalisation, where swathes
for thousands of people nationwide, using
of information from, for example, mobile
technology that helps them stay safe in their
In 2009, the federal Department of Human
devices, can be collected and saved in the
own homes for longer. Feros Care is imple-
Services - which has more than a third of
cloud, and “taken up and be used in many,
menting Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
federal expenditure under its management -
many different ways, other than just a repli-
and Office 365 throughout its network of
and the CSIRO formed the Human Services
cation of a form collection”, Stone said. “All
villages, at-home services, allied health and
Delivery Research Alliance to “inform digital
of a sudden now with digital, we have an
wellness programs and tele-healthcare.
transformation with hard evidence and
ability to create new business models and
multidisciplinary research”, with the aim of
new forms of engagement that transcend
Previously, Feros Care was using a few differ-
improving “the customer experience and at
devices or locations or communication types,
ent systems. “We were trying to manipulate
the same time improve efficiency and service
because once it’s in digital form it can be
a client management system to do a lot of
levels”. The results of a three-year study by
repurposed… to further aid personalisation
customer relationship management, so there
the collaboration are available on the CSIRO
in a way that’s not possible with simply
were a lot of spreadsheets,” said Glenn Payne,
Productivity Flagship website (csiro.au/en/
digitising something.”
CIO. “We’ve moved from a very manually
Research/DPF).
intensive operation to a cloud-based, accessFor the built environment, which is Arup’s
anywhere system.
Digital in the built environment
main focus, Stone gives the example of looking for cracks inside tunnels. “In the
“From a collaboration standpoint especially,
If there’s anyone who should have an intimate
old days they’d send someone out who’d
we’re seeing that Yammer has cut down on
knowledge of digital transformation and
look at the thing they’re surveying, they’d
email traffic. I think that was quite surpris-
O U R PA N E L
Greg Stone, Leader of Digital Services, Arup
Glenn Payne, CIO, Feros Care
Amanda Kennan, Strategy & Development Management Consultant, MacKenzie Strategic
Ben Hutt, CEO, The Search Party
23
And then I ‘Nitro Clouded’ it so that the
“All of a sudden now with digital, we have an ability to create new business models and new forms of engagement that transcend devices or locations or communication types.”
vendor could sign, and I had the signature back and I had moneys transferred literally within two-and-a-half hours. It would have taken days previously.” “In a world that’s going ever-more paperless,
ing,” said Payne. “It has enabled us from
Strategic had tried using Adobe document
it just makes paperless easier,” said Kennan.
an IT perspective to give people real-time
management software, but found that staff
“You just don’t worry about it. So we’re not
information and updates on things that are
and clients didn’t really take to it. So they
[even] keeping a mail register anymore.”
going on in the company… and cut down
switched to an Australian-developed docu-
on our need for so many staff meetings.
ment management solution, Nitro.
“Our whole idea was to create a remote
With Nitro, “clients don’t need any special
business that began in 2011 and developed
workforce that felt that even though they
software - they just get an email from us
The Marketplace, which is a way of deliver-
are working from home, they’re part of
that says ‘Here’s a link, we’d like you to sign
ing for the recruitment industry what Uber
the business,” he added. “Office 365 and all
or view these documents’”, said Amanda
delivers for transportation. The Search Party
the collaboration tools have really brought
Kennan, MacKenzie Strategic’s Strategy
now represents more than 15 million can-
that to life. It has enabled us to have a
and Development Management Consultant.
didates connected to about 200 recruitment
remote workforce that feels connected to
“They click the link and it tells them they’re
agencies in 25 countries.
the central office.
going to Nitro Cloud, and then it’s literally
The cloud’s silver lining Ben Hutt is CEO of The Search Party, a
just follow the bouncing ball.”
Recruitment via traditional methods takes an average of 81 days, costs a lot of money
“Our CEO has a real drive for technology, she understands it, she wants it,” said Payne.
“From a business perspective, we’re not
and most of the time doesn’t work out. The
“So from my point of view of being a CIO,
having to print when we need authorisa-
Search Party says that its talent pool and data
having a CEO who understands and really
tions, we’re not having to check and see
science techniques, plus the role of inter-
embraces and wants to use technology makes
where things are at, because we can see on
mediary recruitment agencies, reduces the
it a much easier job for me.”
Nitro where the documents are sitting,” said
average time-to-hire to less than two weeks.
Kennan. “I can set a workflow [for different
Going paperless
people to sight or sign the document] and
“That’s only possible because of the vision we
MacKenzie Strategic is a South Australian-
it literally moves that document around so
have always had around scale and leveraging
based chartered accounting firm, which
that the manager can review it, the direc-
data science and the benefits of cloud to
also operates a wealth management con-
tor can sign it, it can go to the client for
really extract genius information from raw
sultancy and an investment administration
signature, it then goes back to our admin
data, and make it accurate and insightful to
support business. With 30 staff working
team for completion and for lodging, and
the time-poor hiring manager,” said Hutt.
in its Adelaide hub and five others across
then the client can get an email to say, ‘All
several offices around South Australia, it
good, all done.’
over Australia.
24
It’s also fair to say that without the cloud, The Search Party’s business model simply
is a small-to-medium firm with clients all “I had one example two weeks ago where
wouldn’t work. “We’re a massive fan of
I had a business sale contract that came
the right tool for the right job… [for
As you would expect, the company needs
through to us, 20 pages in a PDF, and I knew
instance our] anonymisation engine uses
to transfer lots of legal documents to and
the amendments that needed to be made,”
a machine learning algorithm… and it’s
from its clients, and traditionally this had
said Kennan. “The lawyers were all looking
doing around 80 or 90 trillion effective
been done on paper. Documents would be
at me saying, ‘I’ll get a secretary to retype
comparisons over a span of about 20 hours.
mailed, signatures added and then mailed
it.’ And I said ‘No,’ and I literally OCRed it
It certainly would not be possible without
back. But that required quite a lot of effort,
straight into Word, had the amendments
cloud architecture,” said Hutt. “It’s not just
and lots of phone calls to chase documents
done and it was back to me within 20 minutes
a minor improvement, it’s a paradigm shift
that had not been finalised. MacKenzie
and I had a contract out and ready to go.
for everyone involved.”
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T E C H N I C A L LY
SPEAKING
Converged infrastructures vs SDN Should you integrate or disaggregate? Wilson Lai, Technical Director, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Extreme Networks
S
tatic architectures are ill-suited
promptly. Yet organisations are faced with
for today’s highly mobile and
the inherent decision of determining what
virtualised environments. The
should be outsourced and what should
proliferation of data and growing
be insourced. Although costs will be an
number of devices requiring network sup-
underlying factor, the need to separate
port requires networking to be agile; thus,
investment into parts of the infrastructure
organisations will be looking to leverage
that are strategic to the business, while
network infrastructure agility to deliver rapid
outsourcing the rest, will be crucial.
responses that support business growth.
26
Choosing the right networking infrastructure means reconciling contradictory technology trends.
With Gartner projecting worldwide IT Network agility enables applications and
spending for 2015 to increase by 2.4%
services to be added, removed or adjusted
over 2014 to US$3.8 trillion, how will new
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© iconimage/Dollar Photo Club
pieces by deploying software-defined
For a start, it is difficult and time-consum-
networking (SDN)?
ing to change and adapt infrastructure due to network complexity. The same can be
Challenges
said about the constant implementation
The accelerating IoT wave is seeing a
of new technology features that require
deluge of connected devices accessing
time before end-user benefits are realised.
the network, resulting in a vast influx of data, transactions and users. By 2020,
Furthermore, network intelligence tends to
the number of connected things will have
be too siloed from applications, preventing
surged exponentially to an estimated 40
organisations from benefiting from the
billion. This increase in connected devices
presence of valuable and relevant data
“The accelerating IoT wave is seeing a deluge of connected devices accessing the network… By 2020, the number of connected things will have surged exponentially to an estimated 40 billion.” will have a huge impact on organisa-
in the respective systems. Networking
tions’ strategies for the data centre and
hardware is too often closed or static,
network infrastructure. Data can become
limiting future scaling or enhancements
unstructured, leaving a percentage of very
of the data centre.
insightful, high-quality data that is not stored anywhere.
The network should be an asset that drives an organisation’s innovation forward, yet
Data centres will need to become the
too often it holds other efforts back or
modern-day railroad - in other words,
slows them down. How can organisa-
be able to bridge the movement and
tions address these issues between the
storage of data. With existing network
differing trends of deploying converged
complexities, further network growth
infrastructure or SDN?
and expansion may pose significant chal-
applications, users and services be removed
lenges for management and provisioning.
Closed integration
Once more, organisations will encounter
Deploying converged infrastructure re-
a recurring concern - why should data
moves a layer of complexity when data
be moved to a new platform, to a point
centre configuration is abstracted, by
where it might be impossible to leave
preassembling the components so organi-
that platform?
sations don’t have to deal with the pieces.
or merged within the organisation’s own IT infrastructure?
This ensures that tighter integrations are The answer might be simpler than we
built, along with preconfiguring of the
think. The volume of data flooding a net-
pieces - storage, networks and computer
By now, it has been established that the
work as result of IoT will need a place to
servers - with different applications and
network infrastructure must be flexible,
be stored, exposing the traditional network
uses in mind.
rather than static, to keep pace with
problems - many are not agile enough,
rapidly changing markets. So the question
much less ready to support the flow of
With the pieces being integrated and
organisations should be seeking to answer
data or the pace of the ever-changing
working collectively at optimal capacity,
is: do you bring the pieces closer together
business landscape. This situation will
organisations are able to streamline the
by deploying converged infrastructure,
encourage organisations to recognise the
day-to-day management of their data
or disaggregate and have more moving
issues with traditional networking.
centre. They may also stand to benefit
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27
complexity, but also to increase agility and choice, thus addressing many of the challenges listed above. To the uninitiated, these may seem like opposing approaches: integrate and bring the pieces closer together, or disaggregate and have more moving pieces. Yet there from reduced costs that would otherwise
increase agility and levels of control and
are different advantages in the deployment
be spent on single-use components that are
automation. SDN enables the option of
of each trend.
required in managing or troubleshooting
separating networking intelligence from
these pieces. By consolidating resources
networking hardware, which cannot be
Enterprises interested in getting systems up
and outsourcing the network complexity,
achieved with traditional routers and
and running quickly may go to the most
time taken to build and scale the data
switches that have mutually exclusive
converged infrastructure available, while
centres is reduced significantly.
software embedded in the hardware.
those interested in open and dynamic
Open disaggregation with SDN
Since the software will not be bound
faster will look to SDN. At face value
to a networking operating system or
these are conflicting trends, yet ultimately
Then there is SDN, which, in most archi-
control plane, opportunities to leverage
it boils down to the different needs and
tectures, disaggregates networking and IT
new innovations faster will arise. The
approaches of an organisation, all of
intelligence into separate pieces in order
most extreme incarnation of the SDN
which seek to achieve the goal of greater
to create more layers of abstraction and
model has the potential to not only add
business agility.
networks that can leverage innovations
28
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Network monitoring ensures smooth work operations
H
ume Bank, which operates in north-eastern Victoria
for instance, the bank is alerted immediately so that the problem can
and southern NSW, has a network of 19 branches
be resolved quickly; similarly, if there is an issue with EFTPOS links
and 47 ATMs and approximately 150 staff.
in Sydney, the bank will be alerted to take action and repercussions
The core of the bank’s customer-centred approach
for its customers or the wider business can be kept to a minimum.
is the provision of fast and convenient service. With this in mind,
PRTG Network Monitor has given Hume Bank much greater
Hume Bank sought to gain greater insight into its IT networks
insight into the availability of its systems, network and the availability
to help maintain a highly available platform for the business and
of services it provides. As a result, it has helped the organisation
its customers.
predict and resolve issues before they become bigger problems that
Following recommendation by a third-party supplier, Hume Bank
could potentially affect viability to internal and external customers.
chose to trial a free version of Paessler’s PRTG Network Monitor
As a result, the bank has made significant time and financial savings
to gain insight into traffic availability on its branch network. On
through reducing IT administrative time and cost of outages.
seeing what the solution could do and the benefits it could bring
“PRTG provides us with an always-on second set of eyes that
beyond simply monitoring network links, the bank reviewed the cost
lets us know when something in our network isn’t right. As a result
and scope of the solution’s features versus the competing products,
of our viability of services being measured, it helps us better allocate
and chose to fully implement the solution across its enterprise.
time and resources to improving areas that may need attention,”
Paessler’s PRTG Network Monitor is a monitoring solution
said Mennen.
for LANs, WANs, servers, websites, applications, URLs and more. The product is capable of monitoring virtually any kind of device, application or service, helping IT professionals identify potential outages before they occur as well as removing system bottlenecks and maximising use of system resources. “PRTG Network Monitor is very simple to deploy,” said Brad Mennen, systems administrator, Hume Bank. “We were even able to customise the software to suit our own business needs; for example, we customised some of the reports we receive from PRTG and developed custom executables for sensors and the issuing of alerts via SMS message.” Hume Bank installed PRTG on a Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system within its virtual infrastructure, supported by two CPUs and 8 GB of memory. Monitoring a whole host of servers, switches, routers and applications - and even printers, ATMs and EFTPOS - all aspects of network monitoring for the bank were covered using just under 900 sensors. “With PRTG we can even keep an eye on response times for loading web pages for the public-facing internet banking site, via both desktop and mobile, so when a problem arises it can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently to reduce any impact to our customers,” said Mennen. Each data centre and all of the bank’s branches and ATM networks are covered by PRTG. If an ATM goes down in Albury,
29
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delivery B O D Y End-to-end the role of service management TA L K Enterprises forget basic service management principles at their peril
T
he service delivery challenge is
This can also relate to losses in market
to change decision-making pat-
share when we think of that as being not
terns, within an organisation’s
so much ‘accounts’ or business entities, but
broader IT framework, from
rather the people behind them to whom
what are often hierarchical to those that
the service management fraternity owes
are much more ‘process driven’. It should
a duty of care in the provision of timely
be viewed as a solution to the issue,
solutions and sound strategic thinking.
providing end-to-end management that
And it is entirely likely - perhaps more
extends beyond the ‘project’ phase and
than likely - that these customers and key
into the ongoing operational phase of the
relationships will be internal.
business cycle. Thus ‘service management’ is able to provide a blueprint for the
In this scenario, service management
implementation and subsequent support
is sometimes seen as being sandwiched
for the provision of IT services at both
between project management at one end
the ‘back end’ and increasingly ‘front of
and change management at the other, but
house’ as well.
its role and potential is significantly shortchanged by this view. So while the service
This has a potential downside, though,
managers tend to be responsible for the
and on occasion CEOs may conclude that
service desk, this neither represents the
service management provides the blueprint
entire scope of their work nor its most
for operational IT within the organisa-
important component - simply its most
tion. In other words, it descends from its
visible role, hence that which lends itself
rightful place as a strategic partner to a
to definition.
tactical one where it, and its practitioners, are regarded as the solution to problems
More important is the role of service man-
of a day-to-day nature, such as, “Hey, I
agement in the provision of each link of the
can’t turn my screen on”.
chain, starting with the routine provision of problem solving at the provision-of-
Alan Hollensen, CEO and Marketing Manager, itSMF Australia
32
itSMF
At its best, the service management team
service end of the spectrum, right through
will pivot quickly to both take advantage of
to infrastructure and to what may be
new opportunities and also to head off new
fundamentally non-IT business services. It
threats and, to use the current terminology,
is this last sector which is seeing dramatic
‘disruptions’. These later issues may be due
growth in many organisations as they come
to the advent of emerging technologies
to appreciate that intelligent people, trained
that generate strong initial enthusiasm,
in the provision of service management,
along with a ‘change for change’s sake’
are well placed to deliver solutions within
mentality where the best and worst of
the ‘portfolio’ regime. These same capable
the new are jostling for attention in the
individuals are, of course, often at the
same organisation.
forefront of change management as well.
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IT Conference Calendar Gartner Application Architecture, Development & Integration Summit 2015 20-21 July 2015 (Hilton Sydney) Providing insights and perspectives needed to prioritise necessities, refine strategies and make the right decisions to help balance the core IT systems of today and tomorrow. gartner.com/ap/aadi DCD Converged Australia 2015 3-4 August 2015 (Australian Technology Park) Cutting-edge topics and high-profile speakers focusing on the dynamic growth of cloud, IT and data centres (DCs) as business drivers and the convergence of technologies that makes this possible. dcdconverged.com/conferences/australia Australian CIO Summit 2015 3-5 August 2015 (RACV Royal Pines Resort) Offers enterprise and government CIOs
as well as IT solution providers and consultants an intimate environment for a focused discussion of key new drivers for IT innovation. cio.com.au/ciosummit/ Service Management 2015 20-21 August 2015 (Sofitel Sydney Wentworth) Bringing together today’s and tomorrow’s IT enterprise leaders. smconference.com.au Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit 2015 24-25 August 2015 (Hilton Sydney) For business and IT professionals involved in enterprise-wide security, risk management or business continuity. gartner.com/ap/security Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015 26-29 October 2015 (Gold Coast
Convention & Exhibition Centre) Delivering the strategies, insights and tools you’ll need to lead the next generation of IT and achieve business outcomes. gartner.com/technology/symposium/ gold-coast/ Reimagination Thought Leaders Summit 17 November 2015 (The Star, Sydney) Forum that converges experts and digital disruptors from business, government, education and research sectors. reimagination.acs.org.au Comms Connect Melbourne 2015 1-3 December 2015 (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre) National conference and exhibition delivering vital information for missionand business-critical communications users and industry. comms-connect.com.au
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33
T E C H N I C A L LY
SPEAKING
Cyberattack
Thwarting the new threats Shane Bellos, General Manager, Enterprise Security Products, HP Software, HP South Pacific
C
ybercrime has evolved from
future government policy and national
simply stealing informa-
responses to cyberattacks perpetrated
tion for financial gain to
against countries or companies.
ruthlessly infiltrating in-
dustries with the goals of destroying in-
Motivation plays a big role in who is
tellectual property, damaging reputation
targeted by these threats and how they
and crippling vital operating functions.
are executed. Although the Sony hack has garnered significant attention, its impact
34
Cybercrime can lead to financial loss, reputational damage and physical harm.
As one of the most recent and malevolent
pales in comparison to the implications
examples, the Sony Pictures Entertain-
of an attack on critical infrastructure and
ment hack brought global attention
facilities, which has the potential to be
to the issue of cybersecurity that will
politically, economically and physically
likely have a significant impact on
devastating.
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Cyber Crime Study found the average
The breach was accomplished using a
annualised cost of cybercrime incurred
technique called spear phishing - a simple
by a benchmark sample of Australian or-
attack that utilises social engineering
ganisations was $4.3 million, representing
to provoke the user to open an email
an 8.4% increase over the average cost
appearing to be from a trusted source
reported in 2013.
but designed with embedded malware. Once hackers compromised and gained
The study found that the most costly
access to the system, they applied sophis-
cybercrimes resulted from denial of
ticated technical knowledge to override
service attacks, insider threats and use of
the control systems and caused massive
malicious code - with the highest cost per
destruction.
“In December an unidentified group of hackers led a cyberattack on a German iron plant that caused physical damage to the machinery.” industry reported in the energy, utilities
This breach is significant because it is
and financial services sectors.
the second publicly confirmed case of
© lollo/Dollar Photo Club
a cyberattack causing physical damage
Securing and defending the network
to a system - the other being the 2010
With 2015 expected to be another
uranium gas at an Iranian facility.
sabotage of centrifuges used to enrich
landmark year in terms of both the frequency and impact of cyberbreaches,
It is important to emphasise that a cyber-
organisations and officials cannot ignore
attack on physical infrastructure poses a
the potential risks associated with these
unique threat - not only to an organisa-
threats - risks that go beyond the digital
tion’s network and data, but also to its
world and cause actual, physical damage.
physical and human capital as well as the surrounding population. These threats
As the number of devices connected to
require distinct procedures, standards
the internet increases into the tens of
and proactive protections.
billions in the coming years (Morgan Stanley estimates the number to be as
Industries need to implement a cyberse-
The FBI has said the Sony hack was ei-
high as 75 billion), the risk from network
curity strategy that outlines best practices
ther perpetrated or sponsored by North
intrusions, mechanical sabotage and data
for employees, sets comprehensive pro-
Korea, and it is guaranteed that other
loss all increase as well.
tocols outlining a response to a breach
nation states and organised non-state
and, most importantly, encourages the
actors are paying attention to see how
For instance, in December an unidentified
necessary steps to ensure active network
the US responds.
group of hackers led a cyberattack on a
and data security.
German iron plant that caused physical Extensive cybercrime beyond the US has
damage to the machinery and was executed
The Council on CyberSecurity and the
involved theft of payment cards, personal
in a way that prohibited plant workers from
National Institute of Standards and
internet credentials, intellectual property
intervening in the override. This resulted
Technology (NIST), for instance, have
and online bank accounts. Conducted by
in multiple components of the machinery
both outlined critical security controls
the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by
malfunctioning, causing massive damage
as well as public security measures that
HP Enterprise Security, the 2014 Cost of
to the system and the plant’s output.
organisations can take to better secure
This issue is sponsored by — www.eaton.com/powerquality
35
and defend the network, data and vital
Strong cyberdefence relies on the strength
This is why threat-indicator sharing and
business assets. To address the full array
of multiple layers of security targeting
collaboration is such a necessary and
of cybersecurity threats, near-real-time
underlying software security assurance,
crucial step - not only for the protec-
solutions in the form of continuous
data encryption, network defence and
tion of individual organisations, but also
systems monitoring and risk mitigation
near-real-time monitoring to quickly
entire industries, critical infrastructure
are required.
identify a breach and respond before
and national security.
damage can be done.
Real-time awareness
Cyberattacks are no longer simply practi-
When an organisation lacks the aware-
Without comprehensive situational aware-
cal jokes or non-lethal schemes of siphon-
ness to determine who has access to its
ness of an organisation’s network, intru-
ing information for monetary gain. An
network and sensitive data, it is forced
sion prevention and detection systems
attack on critical infrastructure presents
into a reactive posture where breaches
are limited to stopping only the attacks
a clear and present danger to human life
are dealt with after the fact, leading to
they have been programmed to identify.
as well as life-sustaining industries.
diverts further resources away from threat
Pairing near-real-time monitoring solu-
Breaches are an inevitable and expected
detection and prevention. In today’s
tions that have been calibrated with the
occurrence in the digital age. Now we
environment of advanced threats, being
latest threat intelligence can afford IT
must place the priority on how we can
proactive is essential. It is inevitable
managers a comprehensive picture of
prevent and respond to these threats
that bad actors of some kind will gain
their data environment, so threats can
together, which can mean the differ-
access to an organisation’s critical data
be detected and mitigated before they
ence between business as usual and a
with enough persistence.
cause harm.
national crisis.
a state of perpetual damage control that
36
This issue is sponsored by — www.eaton.com/powerquality
Service management solution saves work time and money
T
he University of Canterbury caters to over 15,000
own incidents and have full visibility of their progress. The
students and employs more than 1500 staff. It
result has been an 8.5% incremental increase in self-logging
offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in
requests on a monthly basis.
over 50 disciplines and has a number of specialist
research centres.
Library Services has been impressed with the uptake of the assyst Self-Service Portal, seeing an uptake of 50% within
The university had been using an IT service management
only six months. Overall, the university saw a 15% uptake on
(ITSM) solution to handle the management of incidents, change
the Self-Service Portal for IT and Libraries. This reduces the
requests, service requests and problems. However, the software
pressure on the Service Desk by allowing staff and students
enforced lengthy workflows which could not be modified,
to log and track their own requests - and feedback has been
wasting valuable time and resources to enter incidents and
very positive.
service requests. Reporting was also inefficient and inflexible. During a restructure of operations, it was decided that a new solution was needed to meet the needs of the Learning Resources department, which encompasses IT as well as Audio-Visual, Facilities Management and Library Services. A single service desk was required to meet the needs of Student Services, HR and Finance. The university implemented Axios Systems’ assyst Incident Management and Asset and Configuration Management. Combining all processes into a single solution has provided it with full visibility across its business, plus the ability to control and manage all assets and services. Using assyst’s Reporting Wizard, along with the real-time information via dynamic dashboards, the university has gained actionable business insight. The Reporting Wizard provides report templates for accurate, fast and reliable data. Designated
“The implementation of the Self-Ser vice Portal has
users also create custom reports to see the information they
significantly improved our engagement with our customers
need, when they need it.
and has produced savings in time and effort through reduced
Due to the success initially seen when rolled out to IT, the university is now rolling out assyst to other departments
processing of email requests,” said Andy Keiller, the university’s CIO.
and adopting the assyst Self-Service Portal for remote request
Finally, assyst has enabled reporting on cost per call
logging by staff and students. Over time, the Self-Service
and number of calls per day, allowing the Service Desk
Portal will be rolled out across the entire university for all
to appropriately manage its resources. Reporting has also
administrative service areas, covering both staff and students.
highlighted further efficiencies, such as saving time, reducing
The university is now managing more than 8300 assets
support costs and improved end-user satisfaction.
within assyst, with numbers set to double over the next year.
“The Axios Systems team had clearly addressed the
Incident logging has become much more efficient and the
requirements set out in our RFP documentation,” said Keiller.
time taken to log a call has drastically reduced, with staff on
“Not only did they answer the question of assyst’s capability,
the service desk more at ease with the process. Both staff and
but also commented on how we could expand the use of the
students now have the ability from web or mobile to log their
same functionality in the future phases of our implementation.”
This issue is sponsored by — www.eaton.com/powerquality
37
OFF THE
CUFF
B
Futureproof your enterprise…
or pay the price
ig data, cloud, mobility and
Businesses need to understand the ‘value
security have transformed the
creator’ that IT can be and see it as the
way we do business. These four
route to greater productivity, innovation
themes have been dominating
and growth. IT has become a unit of the
the IT landscape, ushering in a new era
profit-making business, no longer just a
and bringing with it new capabilities and
supporting function, and it is increasingly
new expectations. We’ve seen the develop-
important to the bottom line.
ment of new waves of workloads; changing architectures and deployments; and new
Take a holistic approach. Historically,
ways to consume IT from the data centre
businesses managed their IT in silos
to the end-user device. Your IT depart-
with the various elements not necessarily
ment and infrastructure must have the
complementing each other. Businesses
agility and flexibility to keep up with an
have a complex network of IT solutions,
unpredictable and fast-moving future to
some that work together and some that
ensure yours is a ‘future-ready’ enterprise.
don’t. But there is a better way. Integrated infrastructure is built to work from device
Before you start shaking at the thought
to the data centre to the cloud, seamlessly
of the costs associated with becoming
and securely. This is imperative when you
future-ready, stop - being future-ready
consider how cloud computing, big data,
isn’t a rip-out-and-replace solution. Rather,
mobility and security are reshaping the
it acknowledges today’s rapidly evolving
world in which we do business.
environment and enables your business to quickly adapt to new technologies now
Say no to lock-ins. As consumers, we
and into the future.
have never liked being locked into contracts - witness the new plans on offer
Businesses need to be deliberate with
from phone carriers who have had to
their IT infrastructures, building a bridge
adapt to their customers’ wants. So why
between their current IT solutions and
would businesses lock themselves into
the innovative technologies of tomorrow.
expensive proprietary systems? Businesses
Building this flexibility in now will enable
have more IT options than ever before,
businesses to continue to grow while
so if your business is already locked in,
optimising their existing IT applications
it’s okay. Vendors are devoting massive
and performances.
amounts of time and resources to innovations that are bridging the gap, creating
There are three relatively simple guidelines
enterprises of the future which are open,
to follow as you prepare your IT for the
modular and flexible.
opportunities ahead. Using these three guidelines, the time is
38
Make IT front of mind. The realm of
ripe for all businesses to look at their IT
where IT sits within a business has shifted.
infrastructure and ask: are we future-ready?
This issue is sponsored by — www.eaton.com/powerquality
John McCloskey is the General Manager of Enterprise Business at Dell Australia/New Zealand. He is responsible for developing and executing the go-to-market strategies for the server, storage, networking, software and services lines of business.
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