The second benefit of the application inventory capabilities came after Prescott's team began a full review of its software licensing. It quickly became clear the company had overpaid for applications like Microsoft Office and Visio that weren't being used anywhere near as heavily as it was assumed. Moving these licenses to machines where they were needed, rather than buying licenses in bulk and leaving many of them unused, instantly cut licensing expenses by 15 to 20 percent, providing savings that Prescott says will see the platform pay for itself within six months.
-Being able to allocate machines to a specific project means that we now have a fairly good fit of the costings associated with each of those project in terms of IT infrastructure and licensing," he explains. -Once we get a real-world handle on our licensing and we can negotiate with Microsoft, we'll be able to dispense with a lot of the licenses that we don't require."
While the total cost of the project could not be revealed, Prescott says not having to pay $8,000 for a helicopter ride to the Bass Strait each time a LAN needs examination has been "a real saving".
Continued use of the CC-NOC solution has helped Prescott identify other functionality that has proved invaluable for his team's daily network administration. For example, a range of built-in reports has all but automated the creation of the monthly reports necessary to judge performance against availability targets. Specific types of server alerts can be automatically routed to the correct support team member so roles can be allocated most effectively.
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| Bye, bye birdie ... $8,000 helicopter rides are a thing of the past. |
Given the technology's strong success over the past months, Prescott is now considering further additions to the infrastructure. IP-controlled power strips, for example, would allow for remote power cycling of servers and other devices anywhere on the network.
Possible deployment of an additional CC-NOC unit at each remote site would allow them to keep collecting performance data, then update it on the central command console, even while satellite links are congested or altogether unavailable. The system may even be extended to manage serial-attached equipment such as flow analysis meters and temperature gauges for key equipment on boats and other equipment.
-Putting monitoring into a passive machine that sits on the network, collects the data and allows you to output it in any format -- and particularly the formats that management like -- is really an enormous advantage," Prescott says. -Using an IP network in a passive manner, and then being able to touch those devices over that network is cost-effective and has just been a huge leap forward."
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