Squeezing IT Dollars Without Squashing Service

Do more with what you have: Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft, talks about smart ways businesses of all sizes can control IT costs in tough economic times.

REDMOND, Wash. — March 30, 2009 — The global business downturn has left many IT decision-makers scrambling to figure out how they can reduce or restrain spending without sacrificing quality of service or falling behind competitors. For most, that means squeezing more value out of their existing IT resources, and limiting new IT purchases to technology that will pay for itself in lower operating costs or increased strategic capabilities.

That’s why Microsoft Corp.’s Server and Tools Business sees its primary mission today as delivering innovative solutions that will help its customers thrive in the new economy. To that end, the company continues to invest in new and enhanced server operating systems, virtualization technologies, security solutions and cloud computing.

Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft.

“Rather than decreasing their IT spend in challenging times, some companies are choosing to recalibrate their budgets and invest in technical solutions that deliver savings over the long run,” says Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. “For example, many of our customers that have virtualized their datacenters are already seeing significant savings resulting from server consolidation, faster resource deployment and IT process automation.”

The virtues of virtualization

Other companies are upgrading to Microsoft’s latest server operating system with enhanced management tools, migrating specific workloads to cloud-based services and adopting systems management best practices as part of a long-term cost-savings strategy, according to Muglia.

With a price that’s about two-thirds less than the leading competitive solution, Microsoft’s virtualization platform proves to be more cost-effective than other options. In addition, Microsoft’s management toolset spans the physical and the virtual worlds, which simplifies the job of maintaining a typically heterogeneous datacenter.

The Slough Borough Council, the governing authority for the Borough of Slough in southeastern England, took advantage of the savings potential of the Microsoft virtualization platform when the borough needed to expand its municipal services but faced datacenter space and power constraints. Converting physical servers to virtual machines solved both the space and power problems, but it also generated significant financial rewards as well. “We’ve achieved hardware savings of $148,000 (U.S.), and we expect to reduce server deployment costs by $23,700 (U.S.) annually, based on rolling out 20 servers a year,” says Chris Wintermute, technical infrastructure manager for Slough Borough Council.

Virtualizing a datacenter also lays the foundation for service-based IT. Since virtualization enables workloads to move between on-site datacenter software and the cloud, IT managers don’t have to choose between running applications in the cloud or on-site; it can be a combination of both. “For example, a business might move an application that’s well-suited for the cloud, such as e-mail, from their datacenter to a hosted cloud service, but they may keep more sensitive applications, such as their payroll system, on-premises,” says Muglia.

Invest Today for Returns Tomorrow

When selecting server software and upgrades, Muglia recommends that IT professionals maintain a long-term view. “The important question isn’t how much you pay for a platform upfront, but what a system will cost your organization year after year, and if the company providing the platform will be there for you in the long run.”

Microsoft infrastructure products generally provide excellent return on investment (ROI). For example, when researchers at consulting agency Capgemini looked at companies and institutions in the financial services, education, retail and high-technology industries that had begun using Windows Server 2008, they found that IT costs were reduced by an average of $124,000 per year. These cost reductions resulted from a wide range of areas, including the recovery of five IT staff hours per server and a 91 percent reduction in downtime. A white paper detailing usage scenarios and providing more data on the impact of deploying Windows Server 2008 is available here.

All in the Family

Microsoft’s server family includes comprehensive, cost-effective solutions for businesses of various sizes, all the way from a small family bagel shop to a university research lab that has to crunch terabytes of data.

Several enhancements to the IT infrastructure family are due out within the next two years, including these:

•Windows Server 2008 R2, which will offer new virtualization tools, Web resources and management enhancements that will give customers greater control, increased efficiency and the ability to react to front-line business needs faster than ever before.

•Microsoft Forefront, code-named “Stirling,” an integrated security system that makes it easier to manage security capabilities across an enterprise’s IT infrastructure, and will help reduce administrative and support costs.

•Identity Lifecycle Manager “2,” an identity management product that will ease the burden on IT departments and help desks and extend identity-management capabilities to end users.

•Visual Studio 2010 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4, which will make it easier for developers and development teams to build, test and deploy applications.

•Enhanced versions of SQL Server targeted at business intelligence and high-end data warehousing.

Optimizing the Datacenter

Microsoft recently released the results of a two-year study of the impact that datacenter best practices could have on IT operations costs. The study shows that businesses also can realize immediate savings just by operating their existing datacenters more efficiently. As part of the study, the company commissioned a survey of CIOs and IT managers at 162 organizations regarding six typical server infrastructure workloads: collaboration, data management, identity and access, e-mail, connectivity, and print server management.

The survey found 31 systems-management best practices — such as automated backup, hierarchical storage management and server clustering — that can result in significant savings and improved service levels for businesses of all sizes. For example, organizations that adopted certain practices in the areas of e-mail and collaboration management reported IT costs of at least $10,000 per server per year less than those that did not.

The study also found that many of the most beneficial practices, such as software imaging or cloning, automated restore, and automated deployment processes, are rarely performed today.

“We’ve found dozens of cost-saving best practices that can be put in place at little or no cost with existing IT assets. Yet, surprisingly, many companies are overlooking these opportunities,” says Muglia.

The findings are available in a white paper called “Server Infrastructure Optimization: Best Practices to Reduce IT Operational Costs,” which is available for free download at http://SpotlightOnCost.com.

Layoffs at Microsoft, Google and IBM

Layoffs at Google, Microsoft, IBM and other companies, including midsize businesses are very unfortunate, more bluntly, really suck for the employees, former employees and company.  Laid-off workers have my sympathy.

Remaining employees are fortunate to keep their jobs.  There have been many stories on NPR and other news outlets about how employees need to maintain or increase productivity with a smaller work force.  While EBS is not designed to help at company the size of Google or IBM, EBS can help midsize companies, up to 300 PCs or users, significantly decrease costs and increase productivity, especially remote productivity. 

 EBS help more efficiently purchase and manage software licenses and lower total cost of ownership of your IT infrastructure, both hardware and software.  EBS helped many of our customers consolidate their servers by more than 50% and free up their IT professionals to concentrate on other activities, such as line of business application or possibly their other duty as a financial analyst.

EBS's Remote Web Workplace can help increase the productivity of your road warriors to your employees who need to securely access their email, files and applications from home.

Read the EBS Case Studies for evidence.

Microsoft Study Shows SMBs Using Technology to Cut Costs, Grow Business

“Microsoft SMB Insight Report” forecasts that a majority of small and midsize businesses will maintain or increase IT spending in 2009.

 

Microsoft Resources:

•2009 “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” (.doc)

•Microsoft in Small Business Web site

REDMOND, Wash. — March 25, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today released a study of the business challenges and technology priorities that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are facing in the year ahead. The first “Microsoft SMB Insight Report,” which will be published annually, identified virtualization, IT consolidation, business intelligence, software as a service and support of remote workers as the top technology investment priorities for SMBs in 2009.

Based on a five-country survey of more than 600 Microsoft Small Business Specialists, Microsoft found that the major concerns driving SMB technology investments are declining revenue, competition from larger businesses and general economic difficulties. In response, many SMBs are focusing on IT investments that directly benefit their bottom line — either by reducing operating costs, improving employee productivity, or acquiring and retaining customers.

According to Access Markets International (AMI)-Partners Inc., SMBs account for 90 percent of the world’s workforce and more than half of its gross domestic product. Current market conditions are challenging SMBs’ ability to help revitalize the economy, but the “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” forecasts that 55 percent of small and midsize businesses will maintain or increase IT spending year over year through carefully placed investments.

“Small and midsize businesses play a critical role in the world’s economy and are often the first to emerge from periods of economic uncertainty because of their passion, resiliency and innovation,” said Eduardo Rosini, corporate vice president for the Worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners group at Microsoft. “The ‘Microsoft SMB Insight Report’ identifies areas where technology can play a role in shaping how soon and how aggressively the small and midsize business community reclaims financial stability.”

Investing Wisely in IT

Because SMBs typically lack the resources or technical expertise necessary to evaluate and implement advanced technology solutions, they rely predominantly on the assistance of local technology resources such as Microsoft Small Business Specialists. This community of independent technology experts takes the time to understand the needs of SMB owners and can help identify and implement an IT solution that has the maximum impact on business.

The “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” reflects the insight of Small Business Specialists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Brazil. The following are some of Microsoft’s key findings on the technologies most likely to drive growth and profitability for SMBs in 2009:

•Fifty percent of the surveyed Small Business Specialists identified virtualization or IT consolidation through a small or midsize server as the technology most likely to reduce operating costs.

•The Small Business Specialists expect a 20 percentage point increase this year in the number of SMBs that use software as a service.

•More than 50 percent of the Small Business Specialists considered customer relationship management (CRM), virtualization or IT consolidation through a small or midsize server as the best investment for maximizing business growth in a down economy.

•Nearly 40 percent expect an increased interest in business intelligence and identified it as a critical tool for helping improve a customer’s experience and increase loyalty.

•More than half of the surveyed Small Business Specialists anticipate an increase in the number of SMB remote workers, and nearly 60 percent expect that the shift to more remote workers also will lead to bigger roles and more responsibilities for those individuals working remotely.

“Historically, we have seen that SMBs have responded to economic contractions by intensifying their use of IT, both to cut costs and to defend and enhance their customer relationships,” said Steve Reynolds, managing director for AMI-Partners. “If SMBs respond to the current crisis as they have in the past, we can expect that a sizable number of smaller businesses will invest in IT now to lower operating costs, boost employee productivity and increase connectedness to customers so as to reap the benefits in the years ahead.”

A complete version of the 2009 “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/smb/docs/Microsoft2009SMBInsightsReport.doc

About Microsoft in Small Business

Microsoft offers a broad range of business solutions to help small and midsize businesses (SMBs) maximize productivity and expand business capabilities. Microsoft’s partner program includes more than 640,000 local technology experts, including nearly 20,000 Small Business Specialists. Microsoft also provides a variety of financing, flexible licensing programs and other resources to help SMBs grow their businesses and respond to changes in the market.

More information on Microsoft Small Business Specialists and other SMB resources is available at the Microsoft Small Business Center at http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness.

Virtual Machines for Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (internal use only)

From the WSSG lab:

"We have been busy creating a set of virtual machines for Windows Essential Business Server 2008 for use by the field and other interested internal folks.  These VMs are available today along with a comprehensive setup document that you can use to have EBS up and running in a fraction of the time a full install would take.  I would like to highly encourage your feedback on the use and setup of this environment, we have worked hard to make this as valuable a tool as possible and want to make sure we have met that goal."

Visit the Internal EBS Product Management blog for a link to the internal Windows SharePoint site for the VMs.

100 environmental checks. Free, no strings, no changes to your network.

As IT infrastructure becomes more complex, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) can increase:

–Existing environment has different versions of various technologies,
time consuming to manage

–Achieving interoperability between new IT components with best practices requires integration and time

–Upgrade costs increase due to the requirements of new IT components and their licensesThe Preparation Wizard is a free tool that runs about 100 environmental checks, not changing your network, and provides data and documentation links to address the issues found. We recommend running this tool in your environment to address issues and implement best practices even if you decide not to install Windows EBS.

Read more and download for free.

APAC SMBs to increase IT spend in 2009

By Vivian Yeo, ZDNet Asia
Thursday, January 29, 2009 01:48 PM

"Despite challenging economic times, IT and telecom (IT&T) expenditure by small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in the Asia-Pacific region will reach US$153 billion in 2009, according to a new report."

Read the rest of this brief article here on ZDNet Asia.

Calculate a Customer's Big Easy partner subsidy offer (US and Canada only): Up to $1055 in the U.S.

This is a great deal for customers and partners, don't miss out on getting more for your money.

Microsoft is offering the Big Easy 3.0 in the United States until June 26, 2009 and the Big Easy 2.0 in Canada until March 31, 2009, a Partner Subsidy when you purchase EBS under Open Value licensing.  Since I am not a lawyer and this is just my blog, please see the terms & conditions here for the US and here for Canada.

Using the the Big Easy Calculator on the U.S.'s Estimate Your Subsidy, I calculated a $755 Partner Subsidy for EBS alone and $1055 Partner Subsidy for EBS with another product group.

Partner Subsidy Funds Utilization (U.S.)

The partner subsidy funds received as part of this promotion may be used used with any Registered, Certified or Gold Certified Partner active in the Microsoft Partner Program who is selected by the Qualified Organization ("Selected Partner") for implementation of the Qualified Organization’s Microsoft solution including software, hardware and services.

Partners can be selected at http://pinpoint.microsoft.com. 

Partner Subsidy Dollars Utilization (Canada)

Partner subsidy dollars received as part of this promotion must be used to pay for purchases of services or products from a partner who is a member of the Microsoft Partner Program and who is selected by the Qualified Organization ("Selected Partner"). Partners can be selected at: http://www.microsoftincentives.ca/BigEasy

There are a bunch of additional incentives listed here.

While I was just in New Orleans about a week ago, it is not this Big Easy.