Steve Carlson, IT Operations Manager for Windstream Hosted Solutions, discusses strategies for maximizing an IT budget. He covers assessing internal environments to determine what can be outsourced, considering building infrastructure vs outsourcing to colocation facilities, strategies for reducing storage costs including data deduplication, and developing a purchasing strategy to negotiate better pricing. The presentation provides best practices for focusing IT spending on core business needs while reducing costs through strategic outsourcing and optimization.

1. Maximizing Your IT Budget
Steve Carlson, IT Operations Manager
August, 2011

2. Introduction
Today’s Presenter:
Steve Carlson, IT Operations Manager
for Windstream Hosted Solutions
for Windstream Hosted Solutions
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3. Windstream Corp. Snapshot
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S&P 500 company with full suite of IP-based voice and data services, MPLS
networking, data center and managed hosting services and communication
networking
systems to businesses and government agencies
• $4 billion in annual revenues
$4 billion in annual revenues
• 10,000 employees
• 29 states and District of Columbia
• Data centers: 13
• 60,000 route miles of local
and long‐haul fiber network
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4. Windstream Footprint
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5. Trusted by Top Brands
Trusted by Top Brands
Biotech/Healthcare Technology /
Retail/Consumer Banking/Finance Digital Media
Digital Media
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6. Areas of Focus
Areas of Focus
Strategic Outsourcing
Strategic Outsourcing
Build vs Buy
Dedicated environment
Dedicated environment
Storage
Purchasing
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7. Strategic Outsourcing
Strategic Outsourcing
Economic downturn has created challenges for many
Economic downturn has created challenges for many
organizations
Limited budgets
Reduction in future headcount
Reduction in future headcount
Increased competitive pressure
Strategic outsourcing can free up resources to focus
on the core business
on the core business
Areas to explore when outsourcing
Colocation
Managed Services
System management
Cloud Computing
DBA services
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8. Assess Your Environment
Assess Your Environment
Understand the true
Understand the true
requirements of your
applications
Growth potential of the
applications
Look at the types of data
and tier your storage
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9. Build vs Buy
Build vs. Buy
Consider the costs of
building Data Center Space
Redundant Internet Colocation
Redundant Internet
100 square feet of data center space = $120,000 3 Cabinets of Colocation = $3,000 / Month
Redundant Power
HVAC
Office Space v. Warehouse Space
Human Capital
Human Capital
Facilities Cost
Maintenance
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10. Data Center Overview
aa e e O e e
Tier II and III, SAS 70 Type II compliant data centers
System + System uninterruptible power supply (“UPS”) systems, and carrier neutral
network connections
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems to maintain temperature and
humidity within strict tolerances
humidity within strict tolerances
Hardened facilities with automated facility management tools
Fire control with early warning smoke detection, clean agent suppression and/or dry‐pipe
sprinkler system
sprinkler system
24 x 365 NOC & facilities staff provide for high security externally and internally
Service Level Agreement (“SLA”) backed guarantee of 100% power availability
Modular builds ‐ most expansions are less than four years old (10k sf or larger)
Modular builds most expansions are less than four years old (10k sf or larger)
24‐36 in raised floor no open systems or racks
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11. Solution Comparison
Solution Comparison
On-premise
Redundant Internet
$218,000 CAPEX
$35,416 OPEX (M)
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12. Storage
One of the most
significant cost areas
of IT
f IT
One of the most
One of the most
misunderstood areas
of IT
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13. Storage Options
Storage Options
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14. Storage Example
Storage Example
Logs: 800 GB @ 3.99/GB Logs: 800 GB @ 3.99/GB
Data: 2 TB @ 3.99/GB Data: 2 TB @ 2.25/GB
Archive: 800 GB @ 3.99/GB
/ Archive: 800 GB @ 0.75/GB
$14,364 $8,292
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15. Data Dedup Example
Data Dedup Example
Backup Application
Backup Data
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File System (Open) 535 GB 3% chg rate
Oracle (Open) 3,720 G9 GB 15% chg rate
Email (Open) 2,040 GB 2% chg rate
SQL (Open)
( p ) 305 GB 5% chg rate
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Unity (AS/400, File System) 1,750 GB 3% chg rate
JDE (AS/400, File System) 650 GB 3% chg rate
A/R Imaging (AS/400, Comp) 300 GB 3% chg rate
Backup Policy
Full Fri
Incremental every other day of week
Retention 30 days
30 days
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16. Data Dedup Example Savings
Data Dedup Example Savings
Data Required prior to DeDupe 85.6 TB
Data Required after DeDupe 11.7 TB
Total Savings
g 73.9 TB
Compression Ratio 7.3:1
Savings 86% Storage Savings
Repl bandwidth – no dedup 1063 Mbps
Repl bandwidth – w/ dedupe 64 Mbps
94% Bandwidth Savings
Net Result: Substantial Savings
Net Result: Substantial Savings
in Storage & Bandwidth Costs 16

17. Purchasing Strategy
Purchasing Strategy
Who are you buying from?
Understanding this
What type of relationship do
Wh t t f l ti hi d will give you access
you have with your suppliers? to COST pricing, not
LIST
Understand the registration
process
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18. Purchasing Strategy
Purchasing Strategy
Example: Security Appliance – List: $41,390.00
E l S it A li Li t $41 390 00
List Price 100% $41,390.00
Typical Discount using a VAR 20‐25% off list $31,042.50
Cost
Cost 40% off list
40% off list $24,834.00
Registration 10% off cost $22,250.60
Special Pricing
S i lP i i Depends
D d
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19. Purchasing Strategy
Purchasing Strategy
How plugged in are you to
company‐wide purchasing? Being involved in IT
related purchasing
related purchasing
Centralized procurement dept? will ensure
Combine purchases consistency and
Get maintenance attached to
Get maintenance attached to value company‐wide
contracts on the front end
Ask for training credits
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20. Summary
IT is everywhere.
IT is everywhere
A strategic IT organization benefits the
entire business
Assess ALL environments across the
organization before making decisions
Assume nothing.
Don’t settle for “I think so”
Push for extras and deeper discounts
Focus on your core business.
Explore outsourcing all non‐core
initiatives/functions
i iti ti /f ti
One size never fits all.
Utilize best practices that fit your
environment
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21. Summary
Q&A
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22. Thank you!
Thank you!
For more information, contact your Windstream
For more information, contact your Windstream
representative or visit windstreambusiness.com
representative or visit windstreambusiness.com
t ti i it i d t b i
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