The world of IT moves fast, and there are so many choices in any given situation. It’s this speed and complexity that attract people to technology. But it also can be maddening, especially if you don’t have all the information or expertise required to make the right call. Smart decisions are a result of a sound approach, and for IT that means bringing the right data, tools, process and people to the table.
Making Tough Decisions Easier
Organizations that view IT as a strategic enabler evaluate projects and architectures differently than those who run IT like a cost center. Look at the big picture. With a long-term IT strategy in place, decisions are evaluated based on the broader value and impact to the organization.
How We Can Help
IT Strategy Services
Business Technology Alignment Framework
Choice is good. But making the right choices can be a challenge. Software Shell provides a Business Technology Alignment Framework that can be applied to multiple situations. The framework was created to ensure that technology solutions maximize opportunities for true strategic benefit. As an outcome, you can expect that your decisions are accelerated, informed and tied directly to your business priorities within scenarios such as:
- Technology Selection & Design
- Feature Requirements Development
- Project Prioritization
- Business Case Development
- Vendor Selection / RFP Development Services
Software Shell’s Business Technology Alignment Framework allows organizations to:
- Ensure actionable decisions based on your business needs and IT subject matter expertise
- Evaluate available options based on “what if” scenarios (before capital outlay)
- Provide direct and measurable critical success factors (CSFs) into projects
- Apply the decision framework on an ongoing basis to ensure longer term alignment
- Make strategic decisions based on long-term strategies
Client Infrastructure
There are five key considerations that lay the foundation for Software Shell’s approach to helping organizations optimize client computing:
- Which devices are best suited for your functions and environment? Depending on your current standard for hardware and operating systems, we offer vendor-agnostic advice that keeps your unique needs top of mind.
- What applications do you need to deploy on your fleet of devices, and what’s the best way to do it? Whether you are delivering applications virtually, locally, via an app store or the cloud, we can help architect the right solution.
- How will you deploy your devices and applications? We offer a variety of approaches and can also provide configuration, asset tagging, delivery, installation, removal and disposal services.
- How will you manage your hardware? There are many client management offerings in the market that cover a variety of different scenarios, from mobile device management and application delivery, to inventory and managed device services. We can help you select the right products and solutions and help you run things optimally.
- How will you secure your hardware? We have a team of security experts with deep expertise in areas like current regulations, encryption, and endpoint security. We’ll help you protect your information and ensure you stay compliant.
Desktop Virtualization Viability Assessment
Desktop virtualization enables new levels of IT security, ease-of-management and cost-savings. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Specific user groups within your organization have unique requirements, each demanding their own approach and treatment. Unlike other assessments, Software Shell’s Desktop Virtualization Viability Assessment avoids the pitfalls of an “all-or-nothing” approach when creating your virtualization roadmap. Instead, we develop an in-depth view of your diverse user-groups and chart out the best course of action for each one.
Software & Applications
Microsoft Active Directory Assessment and Advisory Services
There is a staggering pace of change in many of today’s IT environments. New IT delivery models are emerging, users are demanding more device flexibility, and mobility is exploding in popularity – just to name a few of the market forces driving change.Software Shell provides Microsoft Active Directory Assessment and Advisory Services that focus on understanding the future plans of the organization and then designing a flexible and adaptable access and identity infrastructure.
Microsoft Exchange Assessment and Advisory Services
Email and messaging remains mission critical. They need to be available 24×7. No excuses. So planning for the deployment of new services or major upgrades need to be completed with care and consideration. Software Shell’s Microsoft Exchange Assessment and Advisory Services provide a combination of workshop and design sessions with your team to cover key topics. It can also include workshops with selected end users and business stakeholders to review the opportunities to leverage these technologies in new productive ways.
Software Licensing TechCheck Assessment
Managing licensing isn’t easy. Without the right knowledge and processes, odds are you will both overpay for software licenses, and unintentionally under-buy, putting your organization at risk of compliance penalties. But you can easily avoid compliancy risk, over spending and analysis pains by leveraging Software Shell’s world class TechCheck Assessment services. This is an exhaustive, expert-led analysis of what you own vs. the titles you have installed, and you will be led through all the ramifications of your various licensing options. The service also includes access to PiNG, Software Shell’s comprehensive agentless inventory tool, and usage of our award winning Axis repository and reporting.
Network & Unified Collaboration
Network Discovery Assessment
Knowing the status of your network assets can improve business up-time and help you anticipate issues long before they occur. The Software Shell Network Discovery Assessment is a gap analysis exercise designed to give you practical, actionable insights to address common problem areas like over or under-buying in network maintenance contracts, missing firmware, and security vulnerabilities. The assessment also provides a framework and approach for maintaining network integrity and a common architecture as requirements change over time. Or it can be the baseline for a network upgrade or new architecture design.
Security
Network Security Health check
Software Shell’s Network Security Health check is designed to audit the security of the entire network infrastructure. The assessment begins with a detailed review of individual device configurations and a comparison to industry best practices to assess overall stability, reliability and defensive posture. The service also examines current firewall policies, looking for obsolete or inefficient objects and rules. We will document all service requirements and recommend appropriate consolidation, enhancement and risk mitigation actions.
Web Application Security
With the increasing use of Web 2.0 tools, from social networking to instant messaging, as well as the expanding range of devices people use to access information, the incidence of security issues is definitely increasing. Software Shell’s Web Application Security assessment service will help you find and address the vulnerabilities in your websites and web-based applications.
Storage Assessment Services
Storage Assessment
Nobody likes spending more money than they have to, and making a decision about your storage environment without the right data can result in unnecessary costs – and worse, unnecessary risks. The insight offered by Software Shell’s Storage Assessment will help you make an informed choice. Whether you want to analyze your storage at the physical host level, or analyze storage requirements from by service performance, capacity and redundancy requirements, Software Shell’s Storage Assessment arms you with a fact-based portrait of your current state and helps plot the way forward. Plus, you’ll be able to leverage Software Shell Axis, our award-winning, cloud-based platform for modeling, reporting and analysis of your entire environment.
Platform Assessment Services
Server Virtualization Assessment
Virtualization plays a major role in the transformation to the private cloud. A virtualization assessment analyzes the physical server environment, collecting and analyzing server utilization metrics and modeling the physical infrastructure onto a projected virtual environment. The financial payback metrics for investing in virtualization are analyzed and interpreted and included in recommendations for implementation.
Workload Optimization Assessment
Software Shell’s Workload Optimization Assessment provides an integrated set of analysis, planning and decision support tools to help you determine system workloads and capacity utilization across the infrastructure. It provides a benchmark to help guide your next steps in the convergence and consolidation process.
