EDS’ Designed For Run™ Model Keeps Clients On the Road To Success
07 May 2008
Anyone who has ever bought a car knows there’s more to consider than just the sticker price.
Our Approach To Enterprise Governance
As a business term, governance is applied to many different functions and levels to describe a set way of getting things done. But EDS believes that the most significant of these approaches is “enterprise governance,” an overarching system that seeks to align priorities, funding, and resources and elevates decision making, decision rights, and accountability to the appropriate levels.
Learn more about our approach to Enterprise Governance
Sure, the number on the window plays a significant role in determining whether you’ll climb behind the wheel. But what about the other costs associated with driving your favorite model? A wide range of factors from fuel efficiency and repair costs to auto insurance premiums can have a significant impact on your wallet.
You’d never take the keys without thinking about the price to operate that vehicle once you drive it off the lot. But surprisingly, many businesses and government entities take that approach when managing and modernizing their information technology (IT) systems.
That’s because few IT services companies are able to provide those enterprises with a complete picture of the potential costs associated with their new applications and infrastructure projects. With only a sticker price to consider, companies and government organizations enter agreements for projects that carry them a few miles down the road, but never quite deliver them to their final destination.
But at EDS, we believe in giving our clients complete visibility up and down the road with our Designed for Run™ philosophy, helping them develop a map to their IT future and greater understanding of the true cost of getting there.
Intersections Are Key
The trouble with many enterprises is that they are organized so that they address IT issues in a piecemeal fashion – a single problem within a single business process addressed through a short-term commitment with one-time funding and execution. Think of it as paying to build a short road to reach a single location.
The key is having a smart, economical plan for connecting all of these roads so that the organization’s IT system can handle the heavy traffic associated with today’s 24/7 work cycle and the even greater volume expected in the years to come.
Globalization, self-service client interfaces and real-time business management require an IT system with the speed and agility to deliver reliable results in this “always-on” world. As an organization’s mission or marketplace evolves, IT systems need crossroads for carrying the enterprise forward.
Plus, an IT system that is lacking intersections for connecting all of its components can be incredibly expensive to operate, consuming up to 80 percent of a business or government entity’s IT budget.
The IT systems of many veteran enterprises often contain a mix of old and new applications and infrastructure. That’s only logical given the huge amount of time and money it would take to complete a massive, one-time overhaul of a major entity’s entire IT system. Few organizations can afford that option.
So, just as city planners can’t demolish every roadway and start over to make the connections they desire, major organizations can’t shelve all of their existing IT. Both must prepare a multiyear plan for gradual improvements.
EDS serves as the client’s systems engineer, planning the long-range paths that will effectively and efficiently connect existing applications and infrastructure with the new projects that will pave the way to the enterprise’s technological future.
Stay On Course
Banks and airlines can serve as examples of how important it is to choose the correct route when expanding and modernizing IT systems. These were among the first major industries to use technology to put their customers in charge of their own business interactions. The automated teller machine (ATM) moved basic financial transactions out of the bank lobby and into the hands of the curbside consumer. Ticketing kiosks helped to push airline passengers away from the customer service desk and closer to the boarding gate.
Today’s Web-enabled applications permit customer interactions to take place anywhere at anytime through any number of electronic devices. Whether they are transferring account balances or booking a flight, customers are always just a click away.
This “always-on” business model offers tremendous benefits for both customers and businesses. With fewer people standing between customers and the services they want, organizations such as banks and airlines enjoy a lower cost of delivery and customers enjoy a faster, more convenient transaction.
However, in the event of a technical failure, service collapses. Fewer business representatives are available to directly assist customers, and electronic access makes it easy for unhappy customers to take their business and their money elsewhere. Every minute of downtime translates into lost customer interactions and lost revenue.
Organizations that continue a piece-by-piece IT approach without long-range planning and a well-crafted technique for tying all of the IT elements together place themselves at great risk. As customers grow more accustomed to transactions that take seconds as opposed to days to complete, institutions that fall behind in their IT capabilities also fall behind their competitors in the race to win new customers and better serve existing patrons.
Though some enterprises have attempted to use Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as a means of integrating their disparate functions and legacy systems, proper planning and quality implementation of these SOA projects is critical. A poorly integrated SOA can result in cost overruns and late deliveries. Even worse, the SOA could become yet another isolated legacy system incapable of expanding to meet the changing needs of the enterprise.
Designed for Run
EDS helps keep clients in the driver’s seat, empowering them to meet today’s needs while building for tomorrow’s challenges. With a deep understanding of the client’s industry, broad knowledge of legacy systems and unique applications expertise, EDS bridges the gap between the client’s existing IT system and the new applications and infrastructure that lie ahead. We connect what you have with what you need.
The EDS Designed for Run approach considers the function and expense of the client’s IT system and applications as a whole. It charts a complete course to meet the organization’s goals and implements a measured modernization process while anticipating the client’s cost of operating the final collective system once it is complete.
That means EDS is always looking at the master plan while bringing positive, incremental change to the client. We make sure all paths are connected and every IT dollar counts.
Organizations hoping to utilize modern applications must have an industrial-strength, global infrastructure to remain competitive, reduce risk, enable growth and promote profitability. These entities can’t afford for their IT capabilities to be outpaced by the speed of today’s marketplace.
We help enterprises avoid potential bumps in the road by helping them gain critical insight for the development of their multiyear modernization plans. Clients are able to plot their course around costly implementation pitfalls and significantly reduce their total cost of ownership.
Instead of adding to the clutter of existing systems, EDS works to consolidate and standardize both a client’s infrastructure and applications – reducing costs and increasing performance. Clients realize improved quality, stability and reduced risk from their legacy systems once antiquated processes and redundancies have been eliminated.
A smaller IT footprint provides a firm foundation on which the client’s future infrastructure may be built. New applications and processes may be installed more quickly and easily, allowing the client greater flexibility to address changing business needs.
Moving Forward
A great car is only as good as the sum of its parts. Each piece must be optimized for performance. The same is true for IT systems.
Just as the perfect car requires a powerful engine, a stable frame, comfortable controls and the best safety features, sophisticated IT systems require network engineering, robust testing environments, integration practices, virtualization, knowledge of legacy systems, compliance, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes, state-of-the-art security and 24-hour operations with zero downtime.
EDS guides clients through a complete assessment of existing systems and business requirements to the planning for systems of the future. With more than 45 years in the IT arena, we bring the right combination of practical “nuts and bolts” experience, depth of knowledge and thought leadership to deliver tangible results for the client – increased productivity, improved reliability and significant cost savings.
When you’re ready to drive your IT systems forward, EDS’ Designed for Run model is the vehicle to get you there.