Enterprises have gone global and therein arises all the
related problems of managing IT infrastructure across various
geographical locations. Enterprises have a number of mission
critical applications like CRM, ERP and SCM running across
heterogeneous IT infrastructure that has to be utilized
optimally.
IT as a strategic business driver is well recognized and CxOs
face increasing pressure to ensure that the commitment of IT to
the core business is monitored closely and expectations are
exceeded. IT Services for enterprises could range from Desktop
and Office Automation services, Electronic Messaging,
Internet/Intranet access to ERP & Supply Chain automation
systems. Enterprises are looking at web enabling most of these
critical applications to extend the impact and benefits of IT.
Here is where the right Enterprise Management System becomes
crucial.
Working with complex and heterogeneous needs and balancing
tight cost budgets have forced CxOs to consider “Enterprise
Management Systems” (EMS) as a key enabler of operational
efficiency, proactive management and control of various IT
assets. It is well recognized in the Industry that EMS tools per
se are not a solution. A study by leading research firm has
suggested that up to 70% of EMS implementations do not deliver
stated objectives. Considering the fact that the EMS toolsets
call for upfront capital investment and time-to-market costs, it
is extremely important to have the right approach and a clear
Return on Investment model to make EMS a successful and
beneficial program.
EMS is meant to provide a single point control for
administering virtually any hardware, software, regardless of
makes, vendor or location. End-to-end management capabilities
help in sustaining a predictable IT environment, which is tuned
for optimal performance. Networks, Servers, Databases, Security,
Desktops, Storage, and Operations Management are some of the
core areas that are addressed by EMS.
A very successful EMS approach has to include a comprehensive
design of IT Service Management (ITSM) Processes. ITSM is
framework developed by UK based IT Infrastructure Library
(ITIL), which recommends best practices for IT management. An
ideal EMS implementation should be based on such a process
framework rather than implementation for the sake of adhering to
technology, which would then lead to failures like most EMS
installations.
The benefits of process-based approach are:
- Improved Quality of Service
- Increased resource utilization leading to lower costs of
operation
- Enhanced Customer satisfaction
EMS tools like HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli, or CA Unicenter
provides capabilities to address the enterprise in its entirety,
and they represent the forerunners in this area. It is important
for customers to understand exactly what different tool sets can
help them with as well as suitability to the enterprises
environment and scalability requirements. A clear requirement
definition is the right starting point to a successful EMS
program.
Another important aspect is Enterprise Management Solutions
are that it can be implemented in phases and grows as per
company requirements. This approach gives the flexibility to an
organization and helps them have better control over their
resources and finances. This modularity avoids a huge one-time
investment for entire product suite. By this system, enterprises
are free to source EMS specific to their requirement and well
within its budget restrictions. This therefore allows for
planned, modular expansion plans vis-à-vis a huge one-time
investment on a complete range of products that may not be of
relevance to the organization.
Further, demonstrated gains help in creating positive
commitment to ensure that the overall program is taken
successfully to completion.
In short, what Enterprise Management Systems do offer a lot
of benefits to enabling continuous and proactive management of
complex IT infrastructure along with a huge saving on manpower
and operating costs. The approach has to carefully planned to
ensure that stated benefits accrue to organizations.
