Modernization and innovation is a mantra of Collier IT as well as many IT organizations we encounter. One such organization proceeded with an investigation of what legacy systems were in use, how many were officially unsupported by vendors, and how they might be upgraded with new software and infrastructure that integrates better with their service oriented architecture already in place.
Through this investigation, the client’s team discovered an unintended consequence; maintenance costs. During solution alignment, they found that many of the capabilities they were looking for already existed as add-ons to modern tools but the solutions presented a significant cost sustainability problem.
The client met with their larger vendors such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and others and presented their dilemma in hopes of garnering some creative suggestions that would clear a path forward.
This particular existing client of Collier IT, also decided to meet with us.
The team at Collier IT took a look at the situation from all the perspectives we could through an imagined lens 5 years into the future. The resulting activity centered around the data perspective and what things a data environment would need to provide if a complete 360-degree array of services was made available to their clients in an exceptionally integrated way. We then worked with the client to prioritize which areas were the most critical to their idea of modernization and engaged our partners who offered solutions fitting those priorities.
The resulting implementation was not technical at all, it was legal and procedural. Along with the client and our partners, we worked toward a software licensing model that would allow for unlimited deployment of tools necessary with a predictable cost model that, with proper management, could be sustained for many years into the future.
The client is currently making progress toward their modernization efforts and as of 2016 is working on a 5-year plan with sustainable cost modeling to last well into the future. This plan will be presented for funding in 2017 but some of the key components are already deploying under the unlimited use model we put in place.
“This is the best thing we have ever done.” Client’s Database Manager