Guardian Life, a large life insurance company, has undertaken two major data center consolidation initiatives. The first in the early 2000s consolidated 4 data centers into 2 locations and reduced servers by 40% while cutting staff by 60%. A second initiative in 2010 consolidated the remaining 6 data centers into a primary owned center and leased modular pod, while moving applications to cloud services. This reduced costs while improving business continuity and efficiency.
DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION AT GUARDIAN LIFE As one of the larsharondabriggs
DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION AT GUARDIAN LIFE
As one of the largest mutual life insurance firms in the United States, Guardian Life (www.guardianlife.com) has more than 5000 employees and over 3000 financial representatives in 80 agencies. Guardian and its subsidiaries provide almost three million people with life and disability income insurance, retirement services, and investment products such as mutual funds, securities, variable life insurance, and variable annuities. The company also supplies employee benefits programs to six million participants, including life, health, and dental insurance, as well as qualified pension plans. In addition to regional home offices in New York City; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Spokane, Washington; and Appleton, Wisconsin, the company has 55 remote sales offices and 80 remote agency offices.
Like other insurance companies, Guardian Life is an information intensive organization where data processing and communications network infrastructure have consistently been important contributors to its success. Guardian Life’s IT organization has earned numerous accolades including multiple CIO100 awards from
CIO
magazine [PRNE11]. According to Dennis Callahan, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for, Guardian Life, "A strong partnership between IT and the businesses enables
C7-1
Guardian to deliver cost-effective technology services that facilitate world- class customer service, product innovation, and operational efficiency.” Ensuring alignment between business and IT is important to Guardian Life and provides a consistent theme for many of the insurance companies IT projects including its data center consolidation initiatives [CIOZ12].
Data center consolidation has been an ongoing concern at Guardian for more than a decade. Guardian’s IT governance structure is team-oriented and the company’s data center consolidation initiatives are overseen by it Infrastructure team. The Infrastructure team is primarily co-located in New York, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania but it has key support teams in Spokane, Washington, Appleton, Wisconsin, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Guardian Life began taking a serious look at data center consolidation in 2000, but in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, Guardian also became more concerned with business continuity issues. Guardian had four significant data centers, at its four home offices, but the primary data center was in New York City. After 9/11, Guardian wanted make infrastructure changes to ensure business continuity across its existing data centers and made plans to add two more data centers to the mix.
Guardian performed an assessment of its data centers to provide a basis for planning on the location of data processing resources. One surprising outcome of this assessment had to do with utilization. The assessment revealed that the four data centers had about 1000 UNIX and NT servers, with an average capacity utilization of 1 ...
3 Ways Companies Are Slashing IT Costs with VDICitrix
The need to reduce costs and simplify IT can’t come at the expense of security. By implementing VDI with Citrix XenDesktop, organizations can lower capital and operating expenses while avoiding costly breaches or regulatory fines. This white paper describes the experiences of three companies who reduced costs, simplified IT and met their business objectives.
DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION AT GUARDIAN LIFE As one of the larsharondabriggs
DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION AT GUARDIAN LIFE
As one of the largest mutual life insurance firms in the United States, Guardian Life (www.guardianlife.com) has more than 5000 employees and over 3000 financial representatives in 80 agencies. Guardian and its subsidiaries provide almost three million people with life and disability income insurance, retirement services, and investment products such as mutual funds, securities, variable life insurance, and variable annuities. The company also supplies employee benefits programs to six million participants, including life, health, and dental insurance, as well as qualified pension plans. In addition to regional home offices in New York City; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Spokane, Washington; and Appleton, Wisconsin, the company has 55 remote sales offices and 80 remote agency offices.
Like other insurance companies, Guardian Life is an information intensive organization where data processing and communications network infrastructure have consistently been important contributors to its success. Guardian Life’s IT organization has earned numerous accolades including multiple CIO100 awards from
CIO
magazine [PRNE11]. According to Dennis Callahan, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for, Guardian Life, "A strong partnership between IT and the businesses enables
C7-1
Guardian to deliver cost-effective technology services that facilitate world- class customer service, product innovation, and operational efficiency.” Ensuring alignment between business and IT is important to Guardian Life and provides a consistent theme for many of the insurance companies IT projects including its data center consolidation initiatives [CIOZ12].
Data center consolidation has been an ongoing concern at Guardian for more than a decade. Guardian’s IT governance structure is team-oriented and the company’s data center consolidation initiatives are overseen by it Infrastructure team. The Infrastructure team is primarily co-located in New York, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania but it has key support teams in Spokane, Washington, Appleton, Wisconsin, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Guardian Life began taking a serious look at data center consolidation in 2000, but in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, Guardian also became more concerned with business continuity issues. Guardian had four significant data centers, at its four home offices, but the primary data center was in New York City. After 9/11, Guardian wanted make infrastructure changes to ensure business continuity across its existing data centers and made plans to add two more data centers to the mix.
Guardian performed an assessment of its data centers to provide a basis for planning on the location of data processing resources. One surprising outcome of this assessment had to do with utilization. The assessment revealed that the four data centers had about 1000 UNIX and NT servers, with an average capacity utilization of 1 ...
3 Ways Companies Are Slashing IT Costs with VDICitrix
The need to reduce costs and simplify IT can’t come at the expense of security. By implementing VDI with Citrix XenDesktop, organizations can lower capital and operating expenses while avoiding costly breaches or regulatory fines. This white paper describes the experiences of three companies who reduced costs, simplified IT and met their business objectives.
Jump-Start the Enterprise Journey to the CloudLindaWatson19
In the pre-1880 era onsite power generation was the norm for factories. When the central power stations were built, these factories outsourced their power generation. Cloud infrastructure presents a similar opportunity for organizations wishing to outsource their IT infrastructure.
Time for Converged Infrastructure? Executives Discuss the Operational and Str...EMC
CIOs whose organizations have significant Converged Infrastructure implementations share how convergence is transforming the cost structure, performance profile, and business value of information technology infrastructure.
Showcasing exemplary stories of success where channel partners have gone to great lengths to implement innovative solutions. Acclaiming those partners who have risen to the challenges of the digital era and transformed their business to a solutions offering. Inspiring channel businesses to become value-added providers and trusted allies to their customers. Stories that made a Difference.
Key stories of the edition are as below:
1. FUELING GROWTH - CDW Middle East & Africa
2. NEW FRONTIERS- EmaxIT International
3. LAYING THE FOUNDATION - Innovative Incorporation
Trading
4. CRITICAL CONNECTIONS- Visiontech Systems International
5. THE BIG PICTURE - BMB Group
6. THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE - Maxbyte Technologies
7. BANKING ON THE FUTURE - ConSol Enterprising IT
8. TOP GRADE - Cloud Box Technologies
9. EAGLE EYE - Fox Data Dubai
10.SECURE GATEWAYS - Virus Rescuers
Andmekeskuste töökindlusele ja kiirusele esitatavate nõuetega koos on kasvanud süsteemide keerukus. Uue põlvkonna konvergentsilahendused lihtsustavad arhitektuuri, vähendavad halduskoormust ja suurendavad seejuures süsteemi üldist töökindlust. Kuidas SimpliVity selle saavutab ja mida veel silmas pidada.
How to create a secure high performance storage and compute infrastructureAbhishek Sood
Creating a secure, high-performance enterprise storage system presents a number of challenges.
Without a high throughput, low latency connection between your SAN and your cloud compute infrastructure, your business will struggle to extract actionable insights in time to make the best decisions.
Download this white paper to discover technology designed to deliver maximum storage and compute capacity for enterprises, with massive data stores, that need to solve business problems fast without compromising the security of user information.
Adaptive Self-Service Cloud Option Helps RingCentral Optimize Big Data and Co...Victoria Livschitz
This is IDC Customer Spotlight paper from March 15, 2015.
Operational Challenge: RingCentral needed to solve configuration management problems for rapid delivery of changes and quality for complex Hadoop big data analytics and other systems on which the company's phone and communications business depends.
Solution: The company selected Qubell (presently, Tonomi) autonomic application management platform.
Benefits: The company moved from an outdated version of Hadoop and gained application speed, quality, and reliability with Qubell self-service. Teams spin up tests in days, not weeks, and deploy on Amazon cloud for agility in a dynamic market. Data analytics enable insight into phone and communications performance and usage.
ScenarioIntegrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a public.docxtodd491
Scenario
Integrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a publically traded company, has its home office located in Billings, Montana. IDI has more than 3,000 employees in the following locations:
Billings, Montana, 600 employees
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 580 employees
Warsaw, Poland, 975 employees
Sydney, Australia, 340 employees
Tanzania, Africa, 675 employees
Japan, China, and Hong Kong, 700 employees
IDI has accounts with major market retailers, federal governments, and large state governments. IDI operates a fleet of trucks in each country and has network interface agreements with subcontractors for freight forwarding, storage, and delivery.
IDI is responsible for the movement of goods, from multiple manufacturers and distributors to its clients, in a timely and efficient manner using cost-effective methods. Alternatively, IDI may transfer this responsibility to one of its joint ventures (JVs) or strategic alliances (SAs), if it is more cost-effective and the income differential is within acceptable limits.
IDI is also under pressure for several of its competitors in the logistics industry. The competitive market is driving IDI to improve its routes, delivery methods, fleet vehicles, and other facets of its business to increase profits (a strategic goal) and to reduce costs. The company realizes that the information technology infrastructure has been neglected for some time and that many operating locations are running on outdated hardware and software. On several occasions last year, IDI suffered no less than four network compromises through one of its JV Internet sites that led to the disclosure of sensitive and strategic information on contracts and mergers.
The chief information officer (CIO) made a strategic presentation to the board of directors and executive management to first assess the aging infrastructure and then, develop a multi-year phased approach to have all sites (except for JV and SA) on the same hardware and software platforms. Now that the funding has been approved for the infrastructure assessment, the CIO has asked you to update your passport, and buy some new luggage.
Information about the assessment provided to you indicates that the current state core infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and so on) must be capable of withstanding 10-15% growth every year for the next seven years with a three-to-four-year phased technology refresh cycle.
There is a hodgepodge of servers, switches, routers, and internal hardware firewalls. Your review also disclosed that much (almost all) of the infrastructure is woefully out-of-date in terms of patches and upgrades. This operational neglect has unduly increased the risk to the network, in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Since this will be a multi-year technology upgrade project, something must be done to reduce IDI’s exposure to vulnerabilities to increase the overall security profile and reduce the ris.
Learn how to Build a Smarter Data Center with Juniper Networks Qfabric. This IBM Redguide publication highlights the key requirements for a smarter data center and shows how the characteristics of the data center fabric, a new switching architecture, provide the performance, scalability, flexibility, and manageability that is required. For more information on SAP HANA, visit http://ibm.co/1brCGOt.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Project Integrated Distributors Incorporated
Project Details:
Integrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a publically traded company, has its home office located in Billings, Montana. IDI has more than 3,000 employees in the following locations:
· Billings, Montana, 600 employees
· Sao Paulo, Brazil, 580 employees
· Warsaw, Poland, 975 employees
· Sydney, Australia, 340 employees
· Tanzania, Africa, 675 employees
· Japan, China, and Hong Kong, 700 employees
IDI has accounts with major market retailers, federal governments, and large state governments. IDI operates a fleet of trucks in each country and has network interface agreements with subcontractors for freight forwarding, storage, and delivery.
IDI is responsible for the movement of goods, from multiple manufacturers and distributors to its clients, in a timely and efficient manner using cost-effective methods. Alternatively, IDI may transfer this responsibility to one of its JVs or SAs, if it is more cost-effective and the income differential is within acceptable limits.
IDI is also under pressure for several of its competitors in the logistics industry. The competitive market is driving IDI to improve its routes, delivery methods, fleet vehicles, and other facets of its business to increase profits (a strategic goal) and to reduce costs. The company realizes that the information technology infrastructure has been neglected for some time and that many operating locations are running on outdated hardware and software. On several occasions last year, IDI suffered no less than four network compromises through one of its JV Internet sites that led to the disclosure of sensitive and strategic information on contracts and mergers.
The chief information officer (CIO) made a strategic presentation to the board of directors and executive management to first assess the aging infrastructure and then, develop a multi-year phased approach to have all sites (except for JV and SA) on the same hardware and software platforms. Now that the funding has been approved for the infrastructure assessment, the CIO has asked you to update your passport, and buy some new luggage.
Information about the assessment provided to you indicates that the current state core infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and so on) must be capable of withstanding 10-15% growth every year for the next seven years with a three-to-four-year phased technology refresh cycle.
There is a hodgepodge of servers, switches, routers, and internal hardware firewalls. Your review also disclosed that much (almost all) of the infrastructure is woefully out-of-date in terms of patches and upgrades. This operational neglect has unduly increased the risk to the network, in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Since this will be a multi-year technology upgrade project, something must be done to reduce IDI’s exposure to vulnerabilities to increase the overall security profile and reduce the risk profile.
.
Migrating Into the Cloud: The Brownfield vs. Greenfield OpportunityJulia Smith
The IT world is a complex space and companies may not have the money to completely replace all of their systems. Therefore we need solutions to optimize what we already have. This white paper examines the differences between Greenfield and Brownfield environments – particularly as it pertains to cloud migrations.
Customer Name: WIND
Industry: Service Provider
Location: Italy
Number of Employees: 8000
Challenge
• Reduce capital expenditure
• Improve efficiency, productivity, and application response time
• Reduce time to implement new contact center site or add agents
Solution
• 1200 agents supporting 22.7 million mobile and broadband customers with new Cisco Desktop Virtualization solution based on the Cisco Unified Computing System
Results
• Average call-waiting time reduced by 40 percent
• Agent productivity increased by 20 percent
• Customer relationship management workflow cut by 40 percent, normal service requests completed 35 percent faster
Calculus Quiz 2 (Derivatives)Covers Units 9-13. This is a 10 quest.docxclairbycraft
Calculus Quiz 2 (Derivatives)
Covers Units 9-13. This is a 10 question, 10 point quiz consisting of multiple choice and calculated numeric answers.
You should complete the homework over these units before beginning the quiz.
You should complete the by
Thursday, November 12.
YOU MAY ATTEMPT THE QUIZ up to 3 timesIF YOU WISH to improve your score.
.
Calculus IDirections (10 pts. each) Answer each of the followin.docxclairbycraft
Calculus I
Directions: (10 pts. each) Answer each of the following questions below. In order to receive ANY credit for a question, you must SHOW YOUR WORK using proper notation and clear and concise logic. You're graded on both the accuracy of your answers AND your explanations that sufficiently support your answers. Unless otherwise stated, you're to give the EXAXCT VALUES of answers instead of decimal approximations. In order to receive ANY credit for any applied/word problem (i.e. Problems #29 - ), you MUST declare a variable (unless the variable(s) have already been declared in the problem) and set up and solve an appropriate mathematical expression that can be used to answer the question. Proper units must also be included in answers to applied problems. NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN FOR EITHER GUESSING OR CHECKING POSSIBLE ANSWERS WITHOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM. YOU CANNOT USE CALCULUS TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS.
Finally, write ONLY FINAL ANSWERS ON THESE PAGES; you must show your work both according to homework guidelines and on YOUR OWN PAPER.
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Multiply or divide as indicated. Write your answer in factored form.
1) x22 - 9x + 14 · xx22 -- 1618x x ++ 4877 1)
2)
x
-
12
x
+
32
Simplify the complex rational expression.
4
x
2
-
4
x
-
32
-
1
x
-
8
2)
1 + 1 x + 4
Find the difference quotient for the function and simplify it.
3) g(x) = 6x2 + 14x - 1 3)
Find the domain and range of the function. Write your answers using interval notation.
4)
g(z)
=
16
-
z
2
4)
Find a formula for the function graphed.
5) 5)
Determine if the function is even, odd, or neither. You must use algebra to justify your answer; otherwise, no full credit will be given. NO CREDIT is given for an answer without a mathematical explanation.
6) f(x) = x -+7 9 6)
State the domain of the composition.
7)
(
g
H
h)(x) with g(x)
=
x
+
5
and h(x)
=
8
x
+
7
7)
Compute
f(x
+
h)
-
f(x)
h
(h
J
0) for the given function
.
8) f(x) = 4x - 8 8)
9)
f(x)
=
5
x
2
+
6
x
9)
10)
f(x)
=
1
9
x
10)
Solve the equation by multiplying both sides by the LCD.
11) 32x - x 3+ 1 = 1 11)
12)
Solve the equation.
x
+
6
+
2
-
x
=
4
12)
13)
(
4
x
-
2
)
/
3
2
+
6
=
15
13)
14)
3
x
+
4
=
x
-
1
14)
Find the real solutions of the equation by factoring.
15) x3 + 8x2 - x - 8 = 0 15)
Solve the equation by making an appropriate substitution.
16) (x2 - 2x)2 - 11(x2 - 2x) + 24 = 0 16)
Solve the logarithmic equation.
17) log2(x + 7) + log2(x - 7) = 2 17)
Solve the exponential equation. Express the solution set in terms of natural logarithms.
18) 4x + 4 = 52x + 5 18)
Solve the inequality and express the solution in interval notation.
19) 7Ax - 1A L 2 19)
Solve the inequality. Write your answer using interval notation.
20) x 18- 5 > x 15+ 1 20)
Write the equation as f(x) = a(x - h)2 + k. Identify the vertex, range, and axis of symmetry of the function.
21) f(x) = x2 + 5x + 2 21)
23) log
F.
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Jump-Start the Enterprise Journey to the CloudLindaWatson19
In the pre-1880 era onsite power generation was the norm for factories. When the central power stations were built, these factories outsourced their power generation. Cloud infrastructure presents a similar opportunity for organizations wishing to outsource their IT infrastructure.
Time for Converged Infrastructure? Executives Discuss the Operational and Str...EMC
CIOs whose organizations have significant Converged Infrastructure implementations share how convergence is transforming the cost structure, performance profile, and business value of information technology infrastructure.
Showcasing exemplary stories of success where channel partners have gone to great lengths to implement innovative solutions. Acclaiming those partners who have risen to the challenges of the digital era and transformed their business to a solutions offering. Inspiring channel businesses to become value-added providers and trusted allies to their customers. Stories that made a Difference.
Key stories of the edition are as below:
1. FUELING GROWTH - CDW Middle East & Africa
2. NEW FRONTIERS- EmaxIT International
3. LAYING THE FOUNDATION - Innovative Incorporation
Trading
4. CRITICAL CONNECTIONS- Visiontech Systems International
5. THE BIG PICTURE - BMB Group
6. THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE - Maxbyte Technologies
7. BANKING ON THE FUTURE - ConSol Enterprising IT
8. TOP GRADE - Cloud Box Technologies
9. EAGLE EYE - Fox Data Dubai
10.SECURE GATEWAYS - Virus Rescuers
Andmekeskuste töökindlusele ja kiirusele esitatavate nõuetega koos on kasvanud süsteemide keerukus. Uue põlvkonna konvergentsilahendused lihtsustavad arhitektuuri, vähendavad halduskoormust ja suurendavad seejuures süsteemi üldist töökindlust. Kuidas SimpliVity selle saavutab ja mida veel silmas pidada.
How to create a secure high performance storage and compute infrastructureAbhishek Sood
Creating a secure, high-performance enterprise storage system presents a number of challenges.
Without a high throughput, low latency connection between your SAN and your cloud compute infrastructure, your business will struggle to extract actionable insights in time to make the best decisions.
Download this white paper to discover technology designed to deliver maximum storage and compute capacity for enterprises, with massive data stores, that need to solve business problems fast without compromising the security of user information.
Adaptive Self-Service Cloud Option Helps RingCentral Optimize Big Data and Co...Victoria Livschitz
This is IDC Customer Spotlight paper from March 15, 2015.
Operational Challenge: RingCentral needed to solve configuration management problems for rapid delivery of changes and quality for complex Hadoop big data analytics and other systems on which the company's phone and communications business depends.
Solution: The company selected Qubell (presently, Tonomi) autonomic application management platform.
Benefits: The company moved from an outdated version of Hadoop and gained application speed, quality, and reliability with Qubell self-service. Teams spin up tests in days, not weeks, and deploy on Amazon cloud for agility in a dynamic market. Data analytics enable insight into phone and communications performance and usage.
ScenarioIntegrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a public.docxtodd491
Scenario
Integrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a publically traded company, has its home office located in Billings, Montana. IDI has more than 3,000 employees in the following locations:
Billings, Montana, 600 employees
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 580 employees
Warsaw, Poland, 975 employees
Sydney, Australia, 340 employees
Tanzania, Africa, 675 employees
Japan, China, and Hong Kong, 700 employees
IDI has accounts with major market retailers, federal governments, and large state governments. IDI operates a fleet of trucks in each country and has network interface agreements with subcontractors for freight forwarding, storage, and delivery.
IDI is responsible for the movement of goods, from multiple manufacturers and distributors to its clients, in a timely and efficient manner using cost-effective methods. Alternatively, IDI may transfer this responsibility to one of its joint ventures (JVs) or strategic alliances (SAs), if it is more cost-effective and the income differential is within acceptable limits.
IDI is also under pressure for several of its competitors in the logistics industry. The competitive market is driving IDI to improve its routes, delivery methods, fleet vehicles, and other facets of its business to increase profits (a strategic goal) and to reduce costs. The company realizes that the information technology infrastructure has been neglected for some time and that many operating locations are running on outdated hardware and software. On several occasions last year, IDI suffered no less than four network compromises through one of its JV Internet sites that led to the disclosure of sensitive and strategic information on contracts and mergers.
The chief information officer (CIO) made a strategic presentation to the board of directors and executive management to first assess the aging infrastructure and then, develop a multi-year phased approach to have all sites (except for JV and SA) on the same hardware and software platforms. Now that the funding has been approved for the infrastructure assessment, the CIO has asked you to update your passport, and buy some new luggage.
Information about the assessment provided to you indicates that the current state core infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and so on) must be capable of withstanding 10-15% growth every year for the next seven years with a three-to-four-year phased technology refresh cycle.
There is a hodgepodge of servers, switches, routers, and internal hardware firewalls. Your review also disclosed that much (almost all) of the infrastructure is woefully out-of-date in terms of patches and upgrades. This operational neglect has unduly increased the risk to the network, in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Since this will be a multi-year technology upgrade project, something must be done to reduce IDI’s exposure to vulnerabilities to increase the overall security profile and reduce the ris.
Learn how to Build a Smarter Data Center with Juniper Networks Qfabric. This IBM Redguide publication highlights the key requirements for a smarter data center and shows how the characteristics of the data center fabric, a new switching architecture, provide the performance, scalability, flexibility, and manageability that is required. For more information on SAP HANA, visit http://ibm.co/1brCGOt.
Visit http://on.fb.me/LT4gdu to 'Like' the official Facebook page of IBM India Smarter Computing.
Project Integrated Distributors Incorporated
Project Details:
Integrated Distributors Incorporated (IDI), a publically traded company, has its home office located in Billings, Montana. IDI has more than 3,000 employees in the following locations:
· Billings, Montana, 600 employees
· Sao Paulo, Brazil, 580 employees
· Warsaw, Poland, 975 employees
· Sydney, Australia, 340 employees
· Tanzania, Africa, 675 employees
· Japan, China, and Hong Kong, 700 employees
IDI has accounts with major market retailers, federal governments, and large state governments. IDI operates a fleet of trucks in each country and has network interface agreements with subcontractors for freight forwarding, storage, and delivery.
IDI is responsible for the movement of goods, from multiple manufacturers and distributors to its clients, in a timely and efficient manner using cost-effective methods. Alternatively, IDI may transfer this responsibility to one of its JVs or SAs, if it is more cost-effective and the income differential is within acceptable limits.
IDI is also under pressure for several of its competitors in the logistics industry. The competitive market is driving IDI to improve its routes, delivery methods, fleet vehicles, and other facets of its business to increase profits (a strategic goal) and to reduce costs. The company realizes that the information technology infrastructure has been neglected for some time and that many operating locations are running on outdated hardware and software. On several occasions last year, IDI suffered no less than four network compromises through one of its JV Internet sites that led to the disclosure of sensitive and strategic information on contracts and mergers.
The chief information officer (CIO) made a strategic presentation to the board of directors and executive management to first assess the aging infrastructure and then, develop a multi-year phased approach to have all sites (except for JV and SA) on the same hardware and software platforms. Now that the funding has been approved for the infrastructure assessment, the CIO has asked you to update your passport, and buy some new luggage.
Information about the assessment provided to you indicates that the current state core infrastructure (switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and so on) must be capable of withstanding 10-15% growth every year for the next seven years with a three-to-four-year phased technology refresh cycle.
There is a hodgepodge of servers, switches, routers, and internal hardware firewalls. Your review also disclosed that much (almost all) of the infrastructure is woefully out-of-date in terms of patches and upgrades. This operational neglect has unduly increased the risk to the network, in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Since this will be a multi-year technology upgrade project, something must be done to reduce IDI’s exposure to vulnerabilities to increase the overall security profile and reduce the risk profile.
.
Migrating Into the Cloud: The Brownfield vs. Greenfield OpportunityJulia Smith
The IT world is a complex space and companies may not have the money to completely replace all of their systems. Therefore we need solutions to optimize what we already have. This white paper examines the differences between Greenfield and Brownfield environments – particularly as it pertains to cloud migrations.
Customer Name: WIND
Industry: Service Provider
Location: Italy
Number of Employees: 8000
Challenge
• Reduce capital expenditure
• Improve efficiency, productivity, and application response time
• Reduce time to implement new contact center site or add agents
Solution
• 1200 agents supporting 22.7 million mobile and broadband customers with new Cisco Desktop Virtualization solution based on the Cisco Unified Computing System
Results
• Average call-waiting time reduced by 40 percent
• Agent productivity increased by 20 percent
• Customer relationship management workflow cut by 40 percent, normal service requests completed 35 percent faster
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Calculus Quiz 2 (Derivatives)Covers Units 9-13. This is a 10 quest.docxclairbycraft
Calculus Quiz 2 (Derivatives)
Covers Units 9-13. This is a 10 question, 10 point quiz consisting of multiple choice and calculated numeric answers.
You should complete the homework over these units before beginning the quiz.
You should complete the by
Thursday, November 12.
YOU MAY ATTEMPT THE QUIZ up to 3 timesIF YOU WISH to improve your score.
.
Calculus IDirections (10 pts. each) Answer each of the followin.docxclairbycraft
Calculus I
Directions: (10 pts. each) Answer each of the following questions below. In order to receive ANY credit for a question, you must SHOW YOUR WORK using proper notation and clear and concise logic. You're graded on both the accuracy of your answers AND your explanations that sufficiently support your answers. Unless otherwise stated, you're to give the EXAXCT VALUES of answers instead of decimal approximations. In order to receive ANY credit for any applied/word problem (i.e. Problems #29 - ), you MUST declare a variable (unless the variable(s) have already been declared in the problem) and set up and solve an appropriate mathematical expression that can be used to answer the question. Proper units must also be included in answers to applied problems. NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN FOR EITHER GUESSING OR CHECKING POSSIBLE ANSWERS WITHOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM. YOU CANNOT USE CALCULUS TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS.
Finally, write ONLY FINAL ANSWERS ON THESE PAGES; you must show your work both according to homework guidelines and on YOUR OWN PAPER.
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
Multiply or divide as indicated. Write your answer in factored form.
1) x22 - 9x + 14 · xx22 -- 1618x x ++ 4877 1)
2)
x
-
12
x
+
32
Simplify the complex rational expression.
4
x
2
-
4
x
-
32
-
1
x
-
8
2)
1 + 1 x + 4
Find the difference quotient for the function and simplify it.
3) g(x) = 6x2 + 14x - 1 3)
Find the domain and range of the function. Write your answers using interval notation.
4)
g(z)
=
16
-
z
2
4)
Find a formula for the function graphed.
5) 5)
Determine if the function is even, odd, or neither. You must use algebra to justify your answer; otherwise, no full credit will be given. NO CREDIT is given for an answer without a mathematical explanation.
6) f(x) = x -+7 9 6)
State the domain of the composition.
7)
(
g
H
h)(x) with g(x)
=
x
+
5
and h(x)
=
8
x
+
7
7)
Compute
f(x
+
h)
-
f(x)
h
(h
J
0) for the given function
.
8) f(x) = 4x - 8 8)
9)
f(x)
=
5
x
2
+
6
x
9)
10)
f(x)
=
1
9
x
10)
Solve the equation by multiplying both sides by the LCD.
11) 32x - x 3+ 1 = 1 11)
12)
Solve the equation.
x
+
6
+
2
-
x
=
4
12)
13)
(
4
x
-
2
)
/
3
2
+
6
=
15
13)
14)
3
x
+
4
=
x
-
1
14)
Find the real solutions of the equation by factoring.
15) x3 + 8x2 - x - 8 = 0 15)
Solve the equation by making an appropriate substitution.
16) (x2 - 2x)2 - 11(x2 - 2x) + 24 = 0 16)
Solve the logarithmic equation.
17) log2(x + 7) + log2(x - 7) = 2 17)
Solve the exponential equation. Express the solution set in terms of natural logarithms.
18) 4x + 4 = 52x + 5 18)
Solve the inequality and express the solution in interval notation.
19) 7Ax - 1A L 2 19)
Solve the inequality. Write your answer using interval notation.
20) x 18- 5 > x 15+ 1 20)
Write the equation as f(x) = a(x - h)2 + k. Identify the vertex, range, and axis of symmetry of the function.
21) f(x) = x2 + 5x + 2 21)
23) log
F.
Cadence Publishes Comprehensive Book onMixed-Signal Method.docxclairbycraft
Cadence Publishes Comprehensive Book on
Mixed-Signal Methodology; The "Mixed-Signal
Methodology Guide" Provides Expert Direction
on How to Address Design, Verification and
Implementation Challenges of Modern Mixed-
Signal Designs
Publication info: M2 Presswire ; Coventry [Coventry]14 Aug 2012.
ProQuest document link
ABSTRACT
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS), a leader in global electronic design innovation,
today announced availability of the critically acclaimed and much anticipated comprehensive design methodology
book for chip designers and CAD engineers that focuses on current and future advanced mixed-signal design
challenges and solutions. The "Mixed-Signal Methodology Guide" provides an overview of the design, verification
and implementation methodologies required for advanced mixed-signal designs. The book brings together top
mixed-signal design experts from across the industry -- including authors from Boeing, Cadence(R), ClioSoft and
Qualcomm -- to address the complex problems facing the mixed-signal design community.
"Modern mixed-signal design require new methodologies to improve productivity, reduce design time and achieve
silicon success," said Hao Fang, engineering director at LSI. "The Mixed-Signal Methodology Guide is a thorough
reference book on advanced verification and implementation methodologies. It will be particularly useful to mixed-
signal verification engineers for its coverage of analog behavioral modeling, and assertion and metric driven
verification methodology as applied to analog and mixed-signal design."
FULL TEXT
M2 PRESSWIRE-August 14, 2012-Cadence Publishes Comprehensive Book on Mixed-Signal Methodology; The
"Mixed-Signal Methodology Guide" Provides Expert Direction on How to Address Design, Verification and
Implementation Challenges of Modern Mixed-Signal Designs
(C)2012 M2 COMMUNICATIONS http://www.m2.com
August 13, 2012
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS), a leader in global electronic design innovation,
today announced availability of the critically acclaimed and much anticipated comprehensive design methodology
book for chip designers and CAD engineers that focuses on current and future advanced mixed-signal design
challenges and solutions. The "Mixed-Signal Methodology Guide" provides an overview of the design, verification
and implementation methodologies required for advanced mixed-signal designs. The book brings together top
mixed-signal design experts from across the industry -- including authors from Boeing, Cadence(R), ClioSoft and
Qualcomm -- to address the complex problems facing the mixed-signal design community.
The growing complexity of today's mixed-signal designs requires major changes in design methodology to both
increase productivity and deliver high quality products on time. This wide-ranging compendium examines in depth
such topics as AMS behavioral modeling, mixed-signal me.
Calculate the energy in the form of heat (in kJ) required to change .docxclairbycraft
Calculate the energy in the form of heat (in kJ) required to change 75.0 g of liquid water at 27.0 °C to ice at –20.0 °C. Assume that no energy in the form of heat is transferred to the environment. (Heat of fusion = 333 J/g; heat of vaporization = 2256 J/g; specific heat capacities: ice = 2.06 J/g×K, liquid water = 4.184 J/g×K)
.
CAHIIM Competencies Assessed Subdomain VI.D. Human Resources Ma.docxclairbycraft
CAHIIM Competencies Assessed:
Subdomain VI.D. Human Resources Management
Create and implement staff orientation and training programs (Blooms 6)
Instructions:
You are an HIM Supervisor at a hospital and you have been asked to create a new staff training on data compliance rules. Assume that the new staff has a wide variety of background, with some new staff knowing nothing about data compliance at all. The training should be basic and introductory.
Create an outline for your training.
Requirements:
Include an introduction and summary within your outline
Length of outline should be 3-4 pages
It should be an annotated outline. This means that it should include citations within the outline and a reference page.
Your training should include the topics of HIPAA and The Joint Commission and other data compliance topics that affect hospital staff
.
C8-1 CASE STUDY 8 CARLSON COMPANIES STORAGE SOLUT.docxclairbycraft
C8-1
CASE STUDY 8
CARLSON COMPANIES STORAGE SOLUTIONS
Carlson Companies (www.carlson.com) is one of the largest privately held
companies in the United States, with more than 171,000 employees in more
than 150 countries. Carlson enterprises include a presence in marketing,
business and leisure travel, and hospitality industries. Its Carlson Hotels
Worldwide division owns and operates approximately 1,075 hotels located in
more than 70 countries. Radisson, Park Plaza, and Country Inn & Suites by
Carlson are some of its hotel brands. The hotel loyalty program is named
Club Carlson. The Carlson Restaurants Worldwide includes T.G.I. Friday’s
and the Pick Up Stix chains. The company registered approximately $38
billion in sales in 2011.
Carlson’s Information Technology (IT) division, Carlson Shared Services,
acts as a service provider to its internal clients and consequently must
support a spectrum of user applications and services. The IT division uses a
centralized data processing model to meet business operational
requirements. The central computing environment has traditionally included
an IBM mainframe and over 50 networked Hewlett-Packard and Sun servers
[KRAN04, CLAR02, HIGG02]. The mainframe supports a wide range of
applications, including Oracle financial database, e-mail, Microsoft Exchange,
Web, PeopleSoft, and a data warehouse application.
C8-2
In 2002, the IT division established six goals for assuring that IT
services continued to meet the needs of a growing company with heavy
reliance on data and applications:
1. Implement an enterprise data warehouse.
2. Build a global network.
3. Move to enterprise-wide architecture.
4. Establish six-sigma quality for Carlson clients.
5. Facilitate outsourcing and exchange.
6. Leverage existing technology and resources.
The key to meeting these goals was to implement a storage area
network (SAN) with a consolidated, centralized database to support
mainframe and server applications. Carlson needed a SAN and data center
approach that provided a reliable, highly scalable facility to accommodate
the increasing demands of its users.
Storage Requirements
Prior to implementing the SAN and data center approach, the central DP
shop included separate disc storage for each server, plus that of the
mainframe. This dispersed data storage scheme had the advantage of
responsiveness; that is, the access time from a server to its data was
minimal. However, the data management cost was high. There had to be
backup procedures for the storage on each server, as well as management
controls to reconcile data distributed throughout the system. The mainframe
included an efficient disaster recovery plan to preserve data in the event of
major system crashes or other incidents and to get data back online with
little or no disruption to the users. No comparable plan existed for the many
servers.
C8-3
As Ca.
Caffeine intake in children in the United States and 10-ytre.docxclairbycraft
Caffeine intake in children in the United States and 10-y
trends: 2001–20101–4
Namanjeet Ahluwalia, Kirsten Herrick, Alanna Moshfegh, and Michael Rybak
ABSTRACT
Background: Because of the increasing concern of the potential
adverse effects of caffeine intake in children, recent estimates of
caffeine consumption in a representative sample of children are
needed.
Objectives: We provide estimates of caffeine intake in children in
absolute amounts (mg) and in relation to body weight (mg/kg) to
examine the association of caffeine consumption with sociodemo-
graphic factors and describe trends in caffeine intake in children in
the United States.
Design: We analyzed caffeine intake in 3280 children aged 2–19 y
who participated in a 24-h dietary recall as part of the NHANES,
which is a nationally representative survey of the US population
with a cross-sectional design, in 2009–2010. Trends over time be-
tween 2001 and 2010 were examined in 2–19-y-old children (n =
18,530). Analyses were conducted for all children and repeated for
caffeine consumers.
Results: In 2009–2010, 71% of US children consumed caffeine on
a given day. Median caffeine intakes for 2–5-, 6–11-, and 12–19-y
olds were 1.3, 4.5, and 13.6 mg, respectively, and 4.7, 9.1, and 40.6
mg, respectively, in caffeine consumers. Non-Hispanic black chil-
dren had lower caffeine intake than that of non-Hispanic white
counterparts. Caffeine intake correlated positively with age; this
association was independent of body weight. On a given day,
10% of 12–19-y-olds exceeded the suggested maximum caffeine
intake of 2.5 mg/kg by Health Canada. A significant linear trend
of decline in caffeine intake (in mg or mg/kg) was noted overall for
children aged 2–19 y during 2001–2010. Specifically, caffeine in-
take declined by 3.0 and 4.6 mg in 2–5- and 6–11-y-old caffeine
consumers, respectively; no change was noted in 12–19-y-olds.
Conclusion: A majority of US children including preschoolers con-
sumed caffeine. Caffeine intake was highest in 12–19-y-olds and
remained stable over the 10-y study period in this age group. Am J
Clin Nutr 2014;100:1124–32.
INTRODUCTION
Caffeine is a commonly consumed stimulant present naturally
in or added to foods and beverages. Caffeine consumption in
children has received considerable interest because of the con-
cern of adverse health effects. Caffeine intake of 100–400 mg has
been associated with nervousness, jitteriness, and fidgetiness
(1, 2). Because of the continued brain development involving
myelination and pruning processes, children may be particularly
sensitive to caffeine (3, 4). There has been some evidence that
has linked caffeine intake in children to sleep dysfunction, el-
evated blood pressure, impairments in mineral absorption and
bone health, and increased alcohol use or dependence (1, 5–7).
In addition, the routine use of caffeinated sugar-sweetened
beverages may contribute to weight gain and dental cavities (8).
Caffeine toxicity in children has also.
Cabbage patch hip dance move, The running man hip hop dance move, th.docxclairbycraft
Cabbage patch hip dance move, The running man hip hop dance move, the humpty dance hip hop move and the butterfly hip hop dance move. Describe each using the attachment in the assignment which provides certain words and descriptions. each style of dance ( cabbage patch, running man, the humpty dance, butterfly) has to have description or analysis using B.A.S.T.E See the attachment
use the attachment to describe each hip hop dance move
.
CA4Leading TeamsAre we a teamHi, my name is Jenny .docxclairbycraft
CA4:
Leading Teams
Are we a team?
Hi, my name is Jenny McConnell. I am the newly appointed CIO of a medium-sized technology company. Our company recruits top graduates from schools of business and engineering. Talent, intellect, creativity – it’s all there. If you lined up this crowd for a group photo, credentials in hand, the “wow” factor would be there.
Our company is spread over a dozen states, mostly in the Northwest. The talent pool is amazing across the board, both in IT and in the rest of the company. But when the CEO hired me, he said that we are performing nowhere near our potential. On the surface, the company is doing fine. But we should be a
Fortune 500
organization. With this much talent, we should be growing at a much faster rate. The CEO also said that I was inheriting “a super team with disappointing performance.” His task for me was to pull the IT stars into a cohesive team that would meet company needs for new IT systems and services much faster and more effectively.
Without making our superstars feel that they were being critiqued and second-guessed, or indicating “there’s a real problem here,” I wanted to gather as much information and feedback as possible from the 14 team members (regional CIOs and department heads) who report to me. I held one-on-one meetings in order to give a voice to each person, allowing each individual to provide an honest assessment of the team as well as areas for improvement and a vision for the future of team efforts.
I was surprised by the consistency of remarks and opinions. For example, a picture emerged of the previous CIO, who was obviously awed by the talent level of the team members. Comments such as “Bob pretty much let us do what we wanted” and “Bob would start the meeting and then just fade into the background, as if he found us intimidating” were typical. The more disturbing comment, “Bob always agree with
me
,” was expressed by most of the team members at some point in our conversation. It was as if the regional heads believed that the CIO wanted them to succeed by doing as they thought best for themselves.
I queried members about the level of cooperation during meetings and uncovered areas of concern, including the complaint that others at the table were constantly checking their iPads and smartphones during meetings. One department head told me, “You could turn off the sound while watching one of our meetings, and just by the body language and level of attention, tell who is aligned with whom and who wishes the speaker would just shup up. It would be comical if it weren’t so distressing.”
Such remarks were indicative of a lack of trust and respect and a breakdown of genuine communication. One team member told me, “I recently encountered a problem that a department head from another region had successfully solved, but the information was never shared, so here I am reinventing the wheel and wasting valuable time.” It was apparent that these so-called high performers were .
C9-1 CASE STUDY 9 ST. LUKES HEALTH CARE SYSTEM Hospitals have been .docxclairbycraft
C9-1 CASE STUDY 9 ST. LUKE'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM Hospitals have been some of the earliest adopters of wireless local area networks (WLANs). The clinician user population is typically mobile and spread out across a number of buildings, with a need to enter and access data in real time. St. Luke's Episcopal Health System in Houston, Texas (www.stlukestexas.com) is a good example of a hospital that has made effective use wireless technologies to streamline clinical work processes. Their wireless network is distributed throughout several hospital buildings and is used in many different applications. The majority of the St. Luke’s staff uses wireless devices to access data in real-time, 24 hours a day. Examples include the following: • Diagnosing patients and charting their progress: Doctors and nurses use wireless laptops and tablet PCs to track and chart patient care data. • Prescriptions: Medications are dispensed from a cart that is wheeled from room to room. Clinician uses a wireless scanner to scan the patient's ID bracelet. If a prescription order has been changed or cancelled, the clinician will know immediately because the mobile device displays current patient data. C9-2 • Critical care units: These areas use the WLAN because running hard wires would mean moving ceiling panels. The dust and microbes that such work stirs up would pose a threat to patients. • Case management: The case managers in the Utilization Management Department use the WLAN to document patient reviews, insurance calls/authorization information, and denial information. The wireless session enables real time access to information that ensures the correct level of care for a patient and/or timely discharge. • Blood management: Blood management is a complex process that involves monitoring both patients and blood products during all stages of a treatment process. To ensure that blood products and patients are matched correctly, St. Luke’s uses a wireless bar code scanning process that involves scanning both patient and blood product bar codes during the infusion process. This enables clinicians to confirm patient and blood product identification before proceeding with treatment. • Nutrition and diet: Dietary service representatives collect patient menus at each nursing unit and enter them as they go. This allows more menus to be submitted before the cutoff time, giving more patients more choice. The dietitian can also see current patient information, such as supplement or tube feeding data, and view what the patient actually received for a certain meal. • Mobile x-ray and neurologic units: St. Luke’s has implemented the wireless network infrastructure necessary to enable doctors and clinicians to use mobile x-ray and neurologic scanning units. This makes it possible to take x-rays or to perform neurological studies in patient rooms. This minimizes the need to schedule patients for neurology or radiology lab visits. The mobile units also enable equipment to be brought to t.
C9-1 CASE STUDY 9 ST. LUKES HEALTH CARE SYSTEM .docxclairbycraft
C9-1
CASE STUDY 9
ST. LUKE'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
Hospitals have been some of the earliest adopters of wireless local area
networks (WLANs). The clinician user population is typically mobile and
spread out across a number of buildings, with a need to enter and access
data in real time. St. Luke's Episcopal Health System in Houston, Texas
(www.stlukestexas.com) is a good example of a hospital that has made
effective use wireless technologies to streamline clinical work processes.
Their wireless network is distributed throughout several hospital buildings
and is used in many different applications. The majority of the St. Luke’s
staff uses wireless devices to access data in real-time, 24 hours a day.
Examples include the following:
• Diagnosing patients and charting their progress: Doctors and
nurses use wireless laptops and tablet PCs to track and chart patient
care data.
• Prescriptions: Medications are dispensed from a cart that is wheeled
from room to room. Clinician uses a wireless scanner to scan the
patient's ID bracelet. If a prescription order has been changed or
cancelled, the clinician will know immediately because the mobile device
displays current patient data.
http://www.stlukestexas.com/
C9-2
• Critical care units: These areas use the WLAN because running hard
wires would mean moving ceiling panels. The dust and microbes that
such work stirs up would pose a threat to patients.
• Case management: The case managers in the Utilization Management
Department use the WLAN to document patient reviews, insurance
calls/authorization information, and denial information. The wireless
session enables real time access to information that ensures the correct
level of care for a patient and/or timely discharge.
• Blood management: Blood management is a complex process that
involves monitoring both patients and blood products during all stages of
a treatment process. To ensure that blood products and patients are
matched correctly, St. Luke’s uses a wireless bar code scanning process
that involves scanning both patient and blood product bar codes during
the infusion process. This enables clinicians to confirm patient and blood
product identification before proceeding with treatment.
• Nutrition and diet: Dietary service representatives collect patient
menus at each nursing unit and enter them as they go. This allows more
menus to be submitted before the cutoff time, giving more patients
more choice. The dietitian can also see current patient information, such
as supplement or tube feeding data, and view what the patient actually
received for a certain meal.
• Mobile x-ray and neurologic units: St. Luke’s has implemented the
wireless network infrastructure necessary to enable doctors and
clinicians to use mobile x-ray and neurologic scanning units. This makes
it possible to take x-rays or to perform neurological studies in patient
rooms. This min.
C361 TASK 2 2
C361 TASK 2 2
C361 Task 2
WGU
Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research
C361
Eve Butler
July 28, 2019
Running head: C361 TASK 2 2
C361 Task 2
A.1 Healthcare problem
Worldwide estimates have shown that greater than 1.4 million patients have acquired nosocomial infections. Adherence to hand hygiene policies are shown to be the most effective way to help prevent these healthcare-associated infections; sadly research shows that healthcare workers have suboptimal compliance with their facilities hand hygiene policies due to lack of education and compliance monitoring. Patients in our healthcare settings are under the assumption that we are doing our best to promote their healing when in fact 7% of them will be subjected to a nosocomial infection with that rate climbing to 10% in developing countries (Finco et al., 2018).
A.2 Significance of the problem
The cost of care that is associated with nosocomial infections is estimated to be over ten billion dollars putting a burden on both patients and health organizations alike. It is estimated that 38% of all infections are caused by cross-contamination due to noncompliance with hand hygiene policies. These infections lead to approximately 99,000 deaths a year in the United States alone (Sickbert-Bennett et al., 2016).
A.3 Current healthcare practices related to the problem
Most healthcare facilities have an educational program that simply teaches how to achieve proper hand hygiene and use the WHO five moments of hand hygiene as their standard. However, this does not educate the healthcare workers on why it is important, nor does it address the far-reaching consequences for noncompliance. Along with the lack of foundational education, most facilities do not monitor for compliance.
A.4 How the problem affects the organization and patients’ cultural background
Inadequate hand hygiene leading to nosocomial infections can affect the organization's cultural background by leading to dissatisfaction in the workplace as staff becomes frustrated by their feelings of inadequacy and helplessness in dealing with patients getting sicker instead of better. The staff may also be feeling stress in the burden of caring for sicker patients. The patient's cultural background may be affected as they may be feeling despair or depression at their inability to get better, and some may feel it is punishment according to their cultural or religious beliefs.
B. Two research evidence sources and two non-research evidence sources considered
In searching for my research evidence sources, I start with the Western Governors University Library online. Once in the library, a boolean phrase was used, which allowed me to search for research articles that contain more than one topic in the same paper. Phrases I used in this search were “nosocomial infections,” “hand hygiene compliance,” and “ hand hygiene education.” With these phrases, thousands of articles were available to peruse.
One of the res.
C6-1 CASE STUDY 6 CHEVRON’S INFRASTRUCTURE EVOLUT.docxclairbycraft
C6-1
CASE STUDY 6
CHEVRON’S INFRASTRUCTURE
EVOLUTION
Chevron Corporation (www.chevron.com) is one of the world’s leading
energy companies. Chevron’s headquarters are in San Ramon, California.
The company has more than 62,000 employees and produces more than
700,000 barrels of oil per day. It has 19,500 retail sites in 84 countries. In
2012, Chevron was number three on the Fortune 500 list and had more than
$244 billion in revenue in 2011 [STAT12].
IT infrastructure is very important to Chevron and to better support all
facets of its global operations, the company is always focused on improving
its infrastructure [GALL12]. Chevron faces new challenges from increased
global demand for its traditional hydrocarbon products and the need to
develop IT support for new value chains for liquid natural gas (LNG) and the
extraction of gas and oil from shale. Huge investments are being made
around the world, particularly in Australia and Angola on massive projects of
unprecedented scale. Modeling and analytics are more important than ever
to help Chevron exploit deep water drilling and hydrocarbon extraction in
areas with challenging geographies. For example, advanced seismic imaging
tools are used by Chevron to reveal possible oil or natural gas reservoirs
beneath the earth’s surface. Chevron’s proprietary seismic imaging
http://www.chevron.com/
C6-2
technology contributed to it achieving a 69% discovery rate in
2011[CHEV12].
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Systems
Chevron refineries are continually collecting data from sensors spread
throughout the facilities to maintain safe operations and to alert operators to
potential safety issues before they ever become safety issues. Data from the
sensors is also used to optimize the way the refineries work and to identify
opportunities of greater efficiency. IT controls 60,000 valves at Chevron’s
Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery; the efficiency and safety of its end-to-end
operations are dependent on advanced sensors, supervisory control and data
acquisition (SCADA) systems, and other digital industrial control systems
[GALL12].
SCADA systems are typically centralized systems that monitor and
control entire sites and/or complexes of systems that are spread out over
large areas such as an entire manufacturing, fabrication, power generation,
or refining facility. The key components of SCADA systems include:
Programmable logic units (PLCs) that and remote terminal units (RTUs)
connected to sensors that convert sensor signals to digital data and
send it to the supervisory system
A supervisory computer system that acquires data about the process
and sends control commands to the process
A human-machine interface (HMI) that presents process to the human
operators that monitor and control the process.
Process meters and process analysis instruments
Communication infrastructure connecting.
C125C126 FORMAL LAB REPORTFORMAL LAB REPORT, GeneralA f.docxclairbycraft
C125/C126 FORMAL LAB REPORT
FORMAL LAB REPORT, General
A formal lab report is required in conjunction with some of the experiments in each chemistry course. It is your chance to demonstrate to your professor or TA how well you understand the experiment and the chemical principles involved. A formal report is different than a term paper. It should be written in a scientific style, which is not the same style used for English or philosophy papers.
The keys to effective technical writing are organization, brevity, clarity, and an appreciation of the needs of the reader. You must write clearly and be thorough, but concise. Do not ramble. The best way to avoid rambling is to first prepare an outline of the report and stick to it. Always use complete sentences. Bulleted lists are okay in a lab notebook but are unacceptable in a formal report. Formal reports must be typed. Use 1.5 line spacing, 1-inch margins, 12 pt font and 8.5x11 inch paper. Only use third person, past tense. Also, proofread well.
The general structure of a formal lab report follows that of a scientific paper. It is:
Title and Author (s)
Introduction
Experimental Information
Data and Calculation
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
References
Results and discussion sections are combined into one single section. Different instructors may have specific formats that they want you to follow. You should always defer to the instructions given to you by your course. Presented here are general guidelines for writing formal lab reports and scientific papers.
Before writing your first report, visit the library and examine several journal articles. Pay close attention to the style of the prose and the contents of each particular section. Several common journals to investigate are:
The Journal of the American Chemical Society
The Journal of Physical Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry
Biochemistry
Initialed and dated laboratory notebook pages of the experiment must be submitted. While report sheets may be a joint effort, formal reports must be individually written. A schedule of reports and dates on which they are due is given in the course laboratory schedule. We highly recommend that reports be completed prior to the day of submission to allow time to proofread, and thus avoiding loss of points due to last minute problems. Lost data or the inability to print reports is not acceptable excuses for incomplete or missing reports. You will be informed when notebook pages will be collected before the report is due.
FORMAL LAB REPORT - Title and Author(s)
State the title of the experiment, your name, the date and your laboratory section number, if applicable. Also state the name of your lab partner(s). This information should be at the top of the first page.
FORMAL LAB REPORT – Introduction
The Introduction states the purpose of the study and introduces the reader with new ideas and topics. It also provides any background necessary to acquaint the read.
C10-1 CASE STUDY 10 CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL .docxclairbycraft
C10-1
CASE STUDY 10
CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL
Within the hospitality industry, there has traditionally been a division
between networks that serve guest functions and those that serve
operations and administration, both with respect to data transmission and
voice transmission. In recent years, most hotel and motel chains have
moved in the direction of consolidating multiple functions on networks that
used to be dedicated to one use. Tighter integration of voice and data and of
guest and operations/administration networking is a fast-growing trend.
Choice Hotels International (www.choice.com) is a good example of this
trend.
Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest and most
successful lodging companies in the world. It franchises more than 6,100
hotels, representing more than 490,000 rooms, in the United States and
more than 30 countries and territories. The company's best known brands
include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria
Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and
Rodeway Inn.
In-House Networking Functions
Choice supports two distinct networking functions. A central Web site
enables customers to reserve rooms at any Choice franchise
http://www.choice.com/
C10-2
accommodation. The central reservation system, known as Profit Manager,
automatically finds the most appropriate hotel based on location, price
range, or standard. Individual hotels also take bookings, so there needs to
be a way for hotels and the central system to remain synchronized.
Choice networks also support its franchisees. Choice is in fact a
relatively small company in terms of personnel (about 2000 employees) and
does not own or operate any hotels. All of the establishments under its brand
names are independently owned and pay Choice licensing fees and a royalty
on all sales. In return, they receive a variety of services, including
marketing, quality control, and inventory management. Many of these
services are offered via network, such as allowing managers to order
supplies online and check booking status. This support network is similar to a
corporate intranet but has a higher reliability requirement. The 6100 hotel
managers are, in effect, Choice's customers, not employees. Thus, the
standards for reliability and performance of the network are high.
In the late 1990s, Choice began to focus on providing a state-of-the-art
global reservation system. At this point, the synchronization of local and
online reservations was done manually. Each hotel provided Choice with a
fixed block of inventory to sell over the central reservation system, with an
average of 30% of capacity. Once that 30% was sold, Profit Manager listed
the hotel as fully booked, even though there might be plenty of rooms
available from the other 70%. The reverse problem also occurred: If the
local reservation system had so.
C11-1 CASE STUDY 11 CLOUD COMPUTING (IN)SECURITY .docxclairbycraft
C11-1
CASE STUDY 11
CLOUD COMPUTING (IN)SECURITY
Cloud computing is reshaping enterprise network architectures and
infrastructures. It refers to applications delivered as services over the
Internet as well as the hardware and systems software in data centers that
provide those services. The services themselves have long been referred to
as Software as a Service (SaaS) which had its roots in Software-Oriented
Architecture (SOA) concepts that began shaping enterprise network
roadmaps in the early 2000s. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS
(Platform as a Service) are other types of cloud computing services that are
available to business customers.
Cloud computing fosters the notion of computing as a utility that can be
consumed by businesses on demand in a manner that is similar to other
services (e.g. electricity, municipal water) from traditional utilities. It has the
potential to reshape much of the IT industry by giving businesses the option
of running business software applications fully on-premises, fully in “the
cloud” or some combination of these two extremes. These are choices that
businesses have not had until recently and many companies are still coming
to grips with this new computing landscape.
Security is important to any computing infrastructure. Companies go to
great lengths to secure on-premises computing systems, so it is not
surprising that security looms as a major consideration when augmenting or
replacing on-premises systems with cloud services. Allaying security
C11-2
concerns is frequently a prerequisite for further discussions about migrating
part or all of an organization’s computing architecture to the cloud.
Availability is another major concern: “How will we operate if we can’t access
the Internet? What if our customers can’t access the cloud to place orders?”
are common questions [AMBR10].
Generally speaking, such questions only arise when businesses
contemplating moving core transaction processing, such as ERP systems,
and other mission critical applications to the cloud. Companies have
traditionally demonstrated less concern about migrating high maintenance
applications such as e-mail and payroll to cloud service providers even
though such applications hold sensitive information.
Security Issues and Concerns
Auditability is a concern for many organizations, especially those who must
comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and/or Health and Human Services Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations [IBM11].
The auditability of their data must be ensured whether it is stored on-
premises or moved to the cloud.
Before moving critical infrastructure to the cloud, businesses should do
diligence on security threats both from outside and inside the cloud
[BADG11]. Many of the security issues associated with protecting clouds
from outside threats are similar to those that have traditionally faced
.
C1-1 CASE STUDY 1 UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS AT BOEING .docxclairbycraft
C1-1
CASE STUDY 1
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS AT BOEING
The Boeing Company (http://www.boeing.com/), headquartered in Chicago,
Illinois, is the world’s largest manufacturer of military aircraft and
commercial jetliners. Boeing has more than 159,000 employees working in
70 different countries who require effective communication to develop and
build some of the world’s most complex products using components from
more than 22,000 global suppliers.
The company’s workforce is one of the most highly educated in the
world. Most employees hold a college degree and many hold advanced
degrees. Collectively Boeing employees have very broad and deep
knowledge that can be harnessed to solve problems and design next
generation products.
Like many major corporations, Boeing has experienced an uptick in the
number of employees who work remotely or travel the majority of each work
week. Boeing’s engineers number in the thousands and are purposely
scattered worldwide to support the company’s global operations.
Boeing organizes its employees into work and project teams. Given the
company’s size and geographic footprint, many of Boeing work’s teams
include globally dispersed members. Engineers on the same team may be
separated by multiple time zones and thousands of miles. Time zone
differences and distance frequently present teams with communication
challenges when they are faced with time sensitive issues that must be
resolved quickly.
http://www.boeing.com/
C1-2
Additional communication issues are associated with the sheer breadth
and depth of Boeing’s knowledge base. When faced with questions about a
particular part included in one of Boeing’s new airliners, an engineer can be
challenged to identify the right person in the company to contact for
answers.
Collaboration Technologies
Boeing knows that continual innovation is important to its long term success.
It also recognizes that effective communication among its employees,
customers, and suppliers is an important enabler of continual innovation.
Boeing has traditionally relied on a variety of systems to facilitate
collaboration among its employees and business partners. As illustrated in
Figure C1-1a, Web conferencing, audio conferencing, desktop sharing, and
mobile voice and data services have been used by Boeing employees to
facilitate communication among geographically dispersed team members.
Historically, these capabilities have been provided by different third-party
providers who were selected on the basis of their ability to provide high-
quality communication services at competitive rates.
By the mid-2000s, Boeing had begun its migration toward unified
messaging and unified communications. At that time, instant messaging (IM)
was one of the more popular messaging services used Boeing employees. At
Boeing, IM has traditionally been supplemented by Web and audio
conferencing services as well as by de.
C09 07222011 101525 Page 88IT leader who had just been.docxclairbycraft
C09 07/22/2011 10:15:25 Page 88
IT leader who had just been hired and would be focused on developing a long-term IT
strategy for the company.
This chapter shows how to develop a strategy for your IT organization and avoid
getting overwhelmed with day-to-day issues. Many CIOs get caught up in tactical
issues and never take the time to establish a future strategy for the organization. The
process is not new or difficult, but many CIOs fail to devote the time to this area and
end up like Fred.
OVERVIEW
Developing an IT strategy is critical for IT leaders. Unless your organization has
developed an understanding of your future goals and objectives, you will not be
successful in leading it forward. In the same manner that you must first decide where
you want to live and build your dream house before engaging the architect and building
contractors, you need to develop a future strategy in order to successfully build your
IT organization.
This chapter is written for someone who has never developed an IT strategy in the
past or needs to revise an existing strategy to align with the company’s future direction.
We first review the methodology you can use to develop your strategy and then go
through the actual steps necessary to complete the strategy. It is important to note that
this is a collaborative process between the IT organization and its business partners. You
must actively engage them during the process and solicit their input during the
development of the strategy. The IT strategy should be considered a component of
an effective business strategy. Finally, we recommend that your strategy is a living
document that is updated on a regular basis to support the evolving nature of your
business. If you decide to enter a new market, offer new products or services, or change
your business model, the IT strategy must be revised to support the business.
IT STRATEGY METHODOLOGY
The methodology for creating your IT strategy consists of three steps, and development
of your improvement road map encompasses three critical elements, as shown in
Figure 9.1.
The first step is to understand the current state of the IT organization. Key questions
for determining current state include:
& Has the organization been successful in meeting the needs of the business?
& Are the relations between the IT organization and its business partners collaborative?
& Does the business feel that investments in the IT organization are providing the
desired benefits?
It is important to take an objective view of how the organization is operating today
and not assume that things are going great.
88 & Process
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C053GXML 10192012 214425 Page 131cC H A P T E R.docxclairbycraft
C053GXML 10/19/2012 21:44:25 Page 131
c
C H A P T E R
5
Privacy and Cyberspace
Of all the ethical issues associated with the use of cybertechnology, perhaps none has
received more media attention than concern about the loss of personal privacy. In this
chapter, we examine issues involving privacy and cybertechnology by asking the
following questions:
� How are privacy concerns generated by the use of cybertechnology different from
privacy issues raised by earlier technologies?
� What, exactly, is personal privacy, and why is it valued?
� How do computerized techniques used to gather and collect information, such as
Internet “cookies” and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, raise
concerns for personal privacy?
� How do the transfer and exchange of personal information across and between
databases, carried out in computerized merging and matching operations,
threaten personal privacy?
� How do tools used to “mine” personal data exacerbate existing privacy concerns
involving cybertechnology?
� Can personal information we disclose to friends in social networking services
(SNS), such as Facebook and Twitter, be used in ways that threaten our privacy?
� How do the use of Internet search engines and the availability of online public
records contribute to the problem of protecting “privacy in public”?
� Do privacy-enhancing tools provide Internet users with adequate protection for
their online personal information?
� Are current privacy laws and data protection schemes adequate?
Concerns about privacy can affect many aspects of an individual’s life—from
commerce to healthcare to work to recreation. For example, we speak of consumer
privacy, medical and healthcare privacy, employee and workplace privacy, and so forth.
Unfortunately, we cannot examine all of these categories of privacy in a single chapter. So
we will have to postpone our analysis of certain kinds of privacy issues until later chapters
in the book. For example, we will examine some ways that medical/genetic privacy issues
are aggravated by cybertechnology in our discussion of bioinformatics in Chapter 12, and
131
C053GXML 10/19/2012 21:44:25 Page 132
we will examine some particular employee/workplace privacy issues affected by the use
of cybertechnology in our discussion of workplace surveillance and employee mon-
itoring in Chapter 10. Some cyber-related privacy concerns that conflict with cyberse-
curity issues and national security interests will be examined in Chapter 6, where
privacy-related concerns affecting “cloud computing” are also considered. In our
discussion of emerging and converging technologies in Chapter 12, we examine
some issues that affect a relatively new category of privacy called “location privacy,”
which arise because of the use of embedded chips, RFID technology, and global
positioning systems (GPS).
Although some cyber-related privacy concerns are specific to one or more spheres or
sectors—i.e., employment, healthcare, and so f.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
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The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
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It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology:
Ethnobotany in herbal drug evaluation,
Impact of Ethnobotany in traditional medicine,
New development in herbals,
Bio-prospecting tools for drug discovery,
Role of Ethnopharmacology in drug evaluation,
Reverse Pharmacology.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
C7-1 CASE STUDY 7 DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION AT GUARDI.docx
1. C7-1
CASE STUDY 7
DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION AT GUARDIAN
LIFE
As one of the largest mutual life insurance firms in the United
States,
Guardian Life (www.guardianlife.com) has more than 5000
employees and
over 3000 financial representatives in 80 agencies. Guardian
and its
subsidiaries provide almost three million people with life and
disability
income insurance, retirement services, and investment products
such as
mutual funds, securities, variable life insurance, and variable
annuities. The
company also supplies employee benefits programs to six
million
participants, including life, health, and dental insurance, as well
as qualified
2. pension plans. In addition to regional home offices in New York
City;
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Spokane, Washington; and Appleton,
Wisconsin,
the company has 55 remote sales offices and 80 remote agency
offices.
Like other insurance companies, Guardian Life is an
information
intensive organization where data processing and
communications network
infrastructure have consistently been important contributors to
its success.
Guardian Life’s IT organization has earned numerous accolades
including
multiple CIO100 awards from CIO magazine [PRNE11].
According to Dennis
Callahan, Executive Vice President and Chief Information
Officer for,
Guardian Life, "A strong partnership between IT and the
businesses enables
http://www.guardianlife.com/
C7-2
Guardian to deliver cost-effective technology services that
3. facilitate world-
class customer service, product innovation, and operational
efficiency.”
Ensuring alignment between business and IT is important to
Guardian Life
and provides a consistent theme for many of the insurance
companies IT
projects including its data center consolidation initiatives
[CIOZ12].
Data center consolidation has been an ongoing concern at
Guardian for
more than a decade. Guardian’s IT governance structure is
team-oriented
and the company’s data center consolidation initiatives are
overseen by it
Infrastructure team. The Infrastructure team is primarily co-
located in New
York, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania but it has key support teams
in Spokane,
Washington, Appleton, Wisconsin, and Pittsfield,
Massachusetts.
Guardian Life began taking a serious look at data center
consolidation in
2000, but in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist
4. attack,
Guardian also became more concerned with business continuity
issues.
Guardian had four significant data centers, at its four home
offices, but the
primary data center was in New York City. After 9/11, Guardian
wanted
make infrastructure changes to ensure business continuity
across its existing
data centers and made plans to add two more data centers to the
mix.
Guardian performed an assessment of its data centers to
provide a basis
for planning on the location of data processing resources. One
surprising
outcome of this assessment had to do with utilization. The
assessment
revealed that the four data centers had about 1000 UNIX and
NT servers,
with an average capacity utilization of 10%. Even at peak
demand, only 25%
of the processing power of the servers was being used
[MUSI02]. Guardian
responded to this assessment with a plan that included the
5. following
objectives:
1. Move the primary data center from New York City to
Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania.
C7-3
2. Improve the efficiency of its data centers, including server
and storage
utilization. Specifically, Guardian set a goal of reducing the
number of
servers supporting Guardian's applications and databases by
40% and
reducing the server support staff by 60%.
3. Ensure a smooth transition to the new primary data center.
The company chose IT consulting firm Greenwich Technology
Partners
(GTP) to help it design and carry out the transition. GTP began
with an
assessment of the company's IT environment and looked at the
impact of
moving the data center from New York to Bethlehem. A major
6. issue related
to the move was that the largest number of data center users was
located in
the New York area. Thus, the new deployment needed to
provide sufficient
data transmission capacity to meet these users' needs.
Fortunately, the
network infrastructure already in place was fairly standard and
easily
scalable (Figure C7.1).
C7-4
An ATM WAN backbone linked the four regional home offices.
Frame
relay connections linked the remote sales offices and remote
agency offices,
and 100-Mbps and 1-Gbps Ethernet LANs provided connectivity
within
campuses. The Cisco Catalyst 5500 and 7200 series routers
provided
Ethernet support combined with a modular, easily scalable
7. design. The Cisco
IGX 8400 ATM switches could be scaled to support an ATM
network service
at any desired capacity. With three widely used networking
technologies in
place, some of the problems that might have been encountered
in a more
convoluted networking environment were avoided.
GTP also looked at the application and database patterns. They
determined that in addition to traditional applications such as
file and print
services, PeopleSoft, and Lotus Notes, Guardian also used a
collection of
applications to support its intranet. Then, as now, the site
included
marketing materials and sales tools for the firm's agents,
account profiling,
and customer data. The company had also invested in a number
of financial
services applications, including applications for supporting its
trading and
securities functions. Due to their complexity and the amount of
resource
8. required to support them, many of Guardian's applications have
historically
been supported by dedicated servers.
The transition team, consisting of Guardian and GTP
personnel, did
extensive validation work and benchmarking to make sure the
data they had
gathered during the initial assessment were accurate. They
measured
network utilization at granular levels and modeled various
consolidation
scenarios for reducing server hardware.
From this analysis, GTP proceeded to develop a plan for
consolidating
the servers, looking at both business and technology issues. For
example,
the team considered the criticality of the applications supported
by the
servers, as well as which business units they belonged to. Some
servers
were good candidates for consolidation; others were not; and
others were
out of warranty, which made them too expensive to keep. After
the
9. C7-5
migration plan was devised and the new architecture developed,
more
testing was conducted to ensure their viability.
The team devoted much thought and analysis to the migration
to the
new architecture, so as not to disrupt day-to-day operations. The
plan
targeted the least complex opportunities first, starting with file
and print
services. Guardian initially had more than 30 servers providing
file and print
services. These were consolidated into just two servers
clustered in a high-
availability, fault-tolerant configuration. For more complex
parts of the plan,
the team opted to do some of the consolidation in New York,
and only then
move the servers to Bethlehem after the consolidation had
settled down.
The initial consolidation and relocation project yielded tangible
benefits
10. to Guardian in terms of reduced hardware and personnel
requirements. But
the benefits extended well beyond these initial objectives. The
mindset of
solving new problems efficiently and in the context of the
existing
infrastructure had taken hold. Guardian no longer automatically
takes orders
for new servers to support applications as it did throughout the
1990s.
Instead, Guardian analyzes each new application requirement
and attempts
to support it with the existing hardware/software suite or with
minimal
upgrades and extensions.
The total cost of the data centered consolidation project was
$4.5
million, but the company saved more than $3 million in 2002,
offsetting
much of that cost. Even greater savings were realized during
each of the
following two years.
11. Further Consolidation
In 2010, Guardian embarked on a second major data centered
consolidation
initiative. The maturation of virtualization technologies and
evolution of high-
bandwidth WAN connections encouraged Guardian to
consolidate six data
centers into two [MITC11]. This is illustrated in Figure C7.2.
Guardian will
C7-6
consolidate its mission critical data processing infrastructure
into one
primary data center that it will own. The company plans to lease
a second
modular pod for use as its second data center. Pod data centers
can be
thought of as data centers in a box. These can be configured by
vendors to
customer specifications and delivered as a container that looks
similar to
refrigerated box car or multi-modal shipping container stacked
on ships or
carried by tractor trailer trucks. Pods are energy efficient but
12. can be a
cramped for human movement.
C7-7
In addition to moving to a much leaner data center
infrastructure,
Guardian is migrating from Unix to Linux. It has also started to
move some
of its applications to the cloud [MITC11]. By the beginning of
2012, Guardian
had moved 18 back-end applications to SaaS and had begun
transitioning e-
mail, HRIS, and IT services into the cloud. The breadth of
Guardian's move
to the cloud put the company on the leading edge among
Fortune 250
organizations [MITC12].
Guardian is using the IDEAS Advantage services from Ideas
International to help it make decisions about remodeling its data
center
13. infrastructure [GOLI11]. These sophisticated tools in
combination with
Guardian’s commitment to cloud services indicate that the
insurance
company’s data center consolidation initiatives are far from
over. Guardian
has not yet moved its core ERP systems to the cloud, but even
this is under
consideration.
Discussion Points
1. Do some Internet research on the reasons why businesses
generally
invest in data center consolidation projects. What benefits do
they
commonly hope to realize? How do Guardian’s rationale for
consolidating data centers compare to those of other businesses?
2. Getting outside consultants to manage data center
consolidation
projects is a common practice. Discuss the pros and cons of
using
consultants to manage data center consolidation projects?
3. How/why has virtualization fueled business interest in data
center
14. consolidation?
4. Why is the availability of high-speed, high bandwidth
communications
an important consideration in data center consolidation plans
and
decision-making?
5. Do some Internet research on modular (pod) data centers.
Summarize
the advantages of disadvantages of modular data centers.
C7-8
6. Guardian is consolidating from six to two data centers
supplemented
with SaaS cloud services. As the company continues to move
applications to the cloud, could it consolidate to zero data
centers?
Why or why not?
7. Do you think that winning multiple CIO 100 awards has
encouraged
Guardian’s IT executives to recommend risky IT projects? Why
or why
not?
15. Sources
[CIOZ12] CIO Zone.”Guardian CIO on Aligning IT, Business.”
Retrieved
online at:
http://www.ciozone.com/index.php/Management/Guardian-CIO-
On-Aligning-IT-Business.html.
[GOLI11] Golia, N. “Guardian Life Using Analytics to Assist
Data Center
Planning. Insurance Technology, September 1, 2011. Retrieved
online at:
http://www.insurancetech.com/architecture-
infrastructure/231600651
[MITC11] Mitchell, R. “Cloud to Lower Bar, Intensify
Competition.”
Computerworld, March 7, 2011. Retrieved online at:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/17935/cloud_to_lower_bar_inte
nsify_comp
etition
[MITC11] Mitchell, R. “Best Practices for Scaling up SaaS to
the Cloud.
Techworld, February 14, 2012. Retrieved online at:
http://features.techworld.com/sme/3337405/best-practices-for-
scaling-up-
saas-in-the-cloud/
[MUSI02] Musich, P. “Project Gets Helping Hand.” eWeek,
November 25,
2002. www.eweek.com.
[PRNE11] PR Newswire. “Guardian Life Recognized by CIO
Magazine for
Third Consecutive Year in CIO 100 Awards.” Retrieved online
at:
![pension plans. In addition to regional home offices in New York
City;
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Spokane, Washington; and Appleton,
Wisconsin,
the company has 55 remote sales offices and 80 remote agency
offices.
Like other insurance companies, Guardian Life is an
information
intensive organization where data processing and
communications network
infrastructure have consistently been important contributors to
its success.
Guardian Life’s IT organization has earned numerous accolades
including
multiple CIO100 awards from CIO magazine [PRNE11].
According to Dennis
Callahan, Executive Vice President and Chief Information
Officer for,
Guardian Life, "A strong partnership between IT and the
businesses enables
http://www.guardianlife.com/
C7-2
Guardian to deliver cost-effective technology services that](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)