PHASE 5: STEADY STATE OPERATIONS
The Challenge: Moving into Your “House”
You are buying a house, and the process is nearly complete. Over the past few months, you engaged an expert home inspector to identify problems and issues you might not have noticed, and worked with the seller and home repair experts to address each one. You are confident that by investing all the necessary time and effort up front, you will save money and avoid unexpected problems once you’ve moved in.
Similarly, once your ITAM solution has been deployed and tested, a careful planning and program development process is nearly complete. You are ready to turn on the lights and go live with the program.
In Phase 5 of our ITAM Program Development methodology, Steady State Operations, Siwel Consulting experts ensure that your ITAM program is turned on, and runs as designed.
The Solution: Steady State Operations
The objective of the final phase of our ITAM Program Development methodology is to ensure that your ITAM program is deployed properly, all procedures are being followed and all processes are running smoothly. During this phase, Siwel professionals:
- Test processes from beginning to end to ensure they are being adopted and not breaking down
- Oversee the use of tools to ensure they are functioning properly and producing the required output
- Evaluate IT asset data for accuracy and completeness
- Review reports to ensure they are meeting expectations of the stakeholders
- Ensure organizational changes are functioning as designed
- Communicate any necessary adjustments to process and tools workflows
If your organization has chosen to run the ITAM program on premise, Siwel will work with you for 30 days in “steady state” mode, and also perform quarterly health checks. If your organization has chosen the Managed Services option, Siwel will be involved in your steady state operations on a continuous basis during the life of the Managed Services Agreement.
Requirements
Siwel uses the results of Phase 4, Solution Deployment, as the foundation for Steady State Operations. Additionally, Siwel requires access to historical information such as contracts and purchase agreements from hardware and software vendors and resellers, and documentation on standards, policies and processes with respect to IT assets. Siwel also needs access to key stakeholders and staff who are knowledgeable about existing ITAM processes, tools and data.
Deliverables
At the conclusion of the Steady State Operations phase, your ITAM program will be up and running in full production mode. The desired organizational structure will be in place, and the ITAM team will be following processes, utilizing tools, gathering and analyzing data, and turning it into valuable business intelligence and analytics that will help your company make important business decisions throughout the life cycle of each asset.
If you have selected the Managed Services option, Siwel will run your ITAM processes within a secure private cloud on an ongoing basis. You will have access to Siwel’s fully integrated ITAM Requisition and Repository System, which provides real-time data about your IT assets. A team of Siwel analysts will be assigned to oversee the day-to-day functioning of your ITAM program, using the data gathered to provide valuable business intelligence, such as trending analyses. They will ensure that your contracts are optimized, standards and processes are followed and licensing requirements are met.
Benefits
When you move into a new house, you need to be certain that the defects have been repaired and every aspect of the home is in excellent condition. Likewise, when you flip the switch and go live with your ITAM program, you need to make sure that the program is functioning as designed. Siwel experts will be there to ensure that everything is running smoothly and make any necessary adjustments to processes as required.
If you have chosen the Managed Services option, Siwel will administer your entire ITAM program, as specified in the outsourcing agreement, in “steady state” mode. Your organization will realize significant cost savings in people, process and technology. In addition, your organization will benefit from Siwel’s expert analysis of the business intelligence from our ITAM Requisition and Repository Systems. All asset requests will be validated and standards will be meticulously followed. Siwel will optimize the value of your software and hardware contracts.
As an added benefit, most of our clients choose to engage Siwel’s Contract Advisory Services which involves contract negotiations, audit preparation and response, and contract optimization as part of their Managed Services agreement.
Upon completion of Phase 5 Steady State Operations, your ITAM program will be up and running in full production mode.
Why Siwel?
Siwel helps organizations deal with the new and significant realities of IT Asset Management and has been designing and implementing successful ITAM solutions for Fortune 50 through middle market companies since 1998. Through this experience, the Siwel team has learned that to be successful, your ITAM program must combine real-time and accurate business intelligence with business analytics that enable your organization to make important strategic and financial decisions. Whether you engage Siwel to advise on a contract or audit issue, to identify gaps, risks and opportunities for cost-savings in your current ITAM program, to develop a comprehensive new program for you to run, or to manage your entire ITAM program in the cloud, your organization will benefit from real-time and accurate data that is analyzed and interpreted by the foremost experts in their field.