The information technology industry has seen an explosion in all aspects -- we now have processors on desktops that have more computing power than all of NASA in the early space program. Network speeds exceed the speed of early computing's "high-speed" bus technology, and the amount of digital information that is being stored is practically unimaginable.
As technology has progressed, medical imaging has not been left out of the digital revolution. The need for larger and better storage has been created where just a few years ago there was none. The first 80-plus years of history for the diagnostic x-ray has seen evolutionary changes to the process of producing an image, generally getting a more detailed, faster, and safer image on film. The revolutionary changes in medical imaging began with the development of digital acquisition devices.
With the ever-increasing requirements being placed on IT staffs by new technology, is it little wonder that many seemingly low-priority tasks keep getting put to the bottom of an ever-growing stack of needs. The installation of the ever-present new software patch (including security patches) is often ignored until a new virus attacks, and suddenly it becomes the highest priority.
Another task that keeps getting put off is the continuing education of IT staff. It is essential to keep their skills up-to-date or else the data center's operations suffer. Unfortunately, costs and resource availability often get in the way.
Such limitations pose several questions for IT directors: What more can be done with current staff? What can be done to improve their personal lives so that they will be happy in their jobs? How can the cyclical staffing needs during project rollout, major system upgrades, ongoing management, and monitoring best be handled during non-business hours?
New project time: The design/purchase process
Typically, when an IT director begins the process of acquiring and rolling out a significant new technology, he or she finds the initial design and RFP process to be a major resource drain. The first task is often to tap one of his or her top staff members to manage and direct the program.
These new duties are often in addition to the individual’s current responsibilities, due in part to the need for a reliable person who will get the job done correctly. Any mistakes at this point can be expensive, if not impossible, to fix. They can haunt a project during its entire lifetime, prevent the program from realizing the promised return on investment, and may lead to the ultimate failure of the program.
When choosing this person the director must consider a few things: How often has the individual been able to participate in an RFP/bid process through its completion, what skill sets will be required, and has this person been trained in negotiation skills? This chosen person will need to ask the appropriate questions, such as:
- What are the industry norms for this specific project?
- Are there best-practice examples that can be followed?
- Are there examples of failures, and are the root causes of these failures known so that they can be avoided?
Finding one individual within the existing staff with all of these skills is often difficult. Some institutions will employ a consultant to help guide this critical first phase when there is a project of any significant size or that is critical to the operation of the institution. Many good consultants have industry-specific expertise and can assist in the design and RFP process. These consultants are often contracted until after the bids have been received, a vendor selected, and final design and negotiations completed. Sometimes, it is a mistaken consensus that the hard part is over and that the current IT staff can handle the implementation of the design.
Implementation and deliveryThe implementation of a project can often pose more challenges than the design and purchase process. This is where a team of experts in the delivery of a project can be even more valuable than during the initial selection process. The need for these services can be overlooked, as the cost to implement a critical piece of code may often exceed the actual cost of the software. At first this may seem ridiculous; however, we can all relate to the number of times the service cost on a car repair exceeded the cost of the parts. We accept it due to the specialized tools and knowledge that the mechanic possesses. The same applies to delivery services for IT.
The ability to temporarily employ the unique skills to properly install a system can pay dividends for many years. On the other hand, an improperly installed system can lead to significant additional maintenance expenses and the potential loss of critical data and services.
Installation is often the first and only time that an institution has seen a specific code, so it is generally wise to bring in some temporary outside experts to either assist with the implementation or educate the team. These tasks and skills for implementation may never be needed again, so by bringing in outside resources a site can save the expense of training its own staff for a one-time need, expedite the implementation, avoid installation mistakes, and learn from industry best practices.
Also, because installation of a new system can be resource-intensive, bringing in outside experts allows the current staff to attend to their regular responsibilities while the outside consultants provide the extra arms and hands needed during a major software rollout. After the initial installation is completed, daily operations can be absorbed by the existing staff, or minimal additional staff can be hired.
When an institution begins the process of going to a digital (filmless) radiology department, one of the more challenging aspects of this process is the implementation of a long-term image archive. Done correctly, the archive can become a strategic storage resource for the entire institution.
If selected and implemented without a broad long-term vision, the archive can quickly become a major source of frustration and expense. This is where specific professional-services skills can be brought in for the proper and complete implementation of an archive.
Information life cycle management strategyWhat is information life cycle management strategy, and why worry about it? Information life cycle management strategy is the concept of properly classifying data and then developing processes to manage this data. Data can be classified into three main categories: temporary, dynamic, and static.
- Temporary: This type of data is used in the processing of jobs and at the completion of the task. This data can and is typically discarded.
- Dynamic: This is often data that is critical to the ongoing operation of data centers. This can include databases, process control information, etc. This data is essential and needs frequent backups.
- Static: This can be the largest quantity of data produced, and if left to grow unchecked can consume ever-increasing amounts of storage requirements.
The perceived easiest way of managing all data, which is to keep it all on disk, is often not the best solution, as this can lead to increasing backup windows, increased maintenance costs, increased infrastructure costs, potential for viruses to spread, etc.
In its simplest form, the information life cycle management strategy can be a well designed hierarchical storage management (HSM) strategy to migrate data from expensive disk storage onto a more cost-effective media (optical or tape in traditional definitions).
Older HSM technologies have proved to be troublesome, difficult to maintain, and of limited value to an IT organization. There is a new breed of technology, classified as "policy-based data management." There are different degrees to which vendors have been able to adopt this approach to automating the data-management function.
The information life cycle management strategy can save significant dollars when properly implemented across an enterprise. As technology changes, it is essential to proactively monitor and keep this strategy updated. This is another opportunity to save significant time, pain, and dollars by bringing in temporary outside professional services.
These professional services can be used for staff augmentation of critical and occasional projects such as equipment, site assessments, and software upgrades. These are also a once-in-a-career need for most data-center staff. By using professional services, one can bring in individuals with highly experienced skill sets who will complete the project and then go on to the next customer. Professional-services staff can also help complete upgrades in a much shorter period, as they become assistants to the current staff which is already overloaded with current day-to-day operations.
Once the data is classified, a storage strategy is developed and presented to the client. One benefit of this service is that if the provider of professional services cannot save at lease twice the cost of the evaluation in the storage environment, the audit is free. This offer can be extended because it has been our experience that most sites are not making the most efficient use of their storage assets.
This can also provide a much higher probability of success and reduce the risk to data and unexpected events by using a professional services resource that does these specific tasks on a consistent basis. Periodic system health checks can be contracted to outside professional services groups that bring in a wealth of skills and knowledge that would be difficult to develop and maintain with an in-house staff.
Another packaged offering could be a fixed-fee system performance audit or health check. It has been found in assessment audits that system dynamics change over time, as users begin to internalize the idea that different data have different values. To make sure a site is receiving the most value for its storage environment, periodic system checkups can be performed.
Many times the hardware maintenance is contracted with the hardware supplier, and the software support is contacted with the software supplier. This often works without significant issues; however, when the project starts to involve several hardware and software vendors, then the probability of unresolved issues increases significantly. Finding an organization that takes support responsibilities for the complete solution can often lead to higher user satisfaction, lower total maintenance costs, and less risk of potentially devastating downtime.
Ongoing project administrationIT staffs are constantly being challenged to do more with less. Also, most IT centers are charged with maintaining a 24 x 7 operation in order to support critical business operations. Trying to find, hire, and train knowledgeable IT staff is difficult in the best of situations, but to ask them to be on call, or even on site, during nights and weekends can be almost impossible.
Often the overnight staff is there "just in case," and most of the system work, development, etc., is accomplished during the day. This is where outsourcing the overnight monitoring and batch process to an outside network operations center (NOC) makes sense. The NOC can remotely monitor and respond to any abnormalities that occur during the off times. A dedicated staff of IT professionals uses the latest system monitoring tools to continually verify the proper operation of the storage environment. Through the use of predictive failure analysis, future failures can often be eliminated by the timely replacement of marginal components.
Another area to consider is to off-load the mundane day-to-day tasks and monitoring to a dedicated monitoring center. This allows for the more efficient use of the existing IT staff in required on-site tasks. Once a new task or requirement is put into production, then it can be executed and/or monitored by the dedicated NOC.
Conclusion
When the economy gets tough, subcontracting agreements are often the first item trimmed as "discretionary spending." While this may have an immediate effect on the monthly expense line, the gain is often short-lived, as these service functions still must be accomplished. The result is often higher overtime costs as IT staffs struggle to keep projects on schedule. Thus, judicious use of contracted professional service offerings can greatly augment a facility's full-time IT staff and resolve the cyclical staffing needs that come with the periodic software upgrades, patch installations, new program rollouts, and 24 x 7 staffing needs.
Additionally, contracting with highly skilled professional services teams can bring knowledge of industry best practices and implementations without having to learn them in the school of hard knocks.
Anyone can cross the swamp once they know the route. Professional services staff have already been there and done that. They know where to go -- where not to go -- and can lead the way to the successful completion of a project.
By Donald Baune and Carol Claycomb
AuntMinnie.com contributing writers
July 28, 2004
Donald Baune is manager, Global Practice Integrated Solutions Delivery at archive services provider StorageTek. He can be reached at 303-661-7399 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Carol Claycomb is Global Service Relationship manager, Global Services Partner Services Management at StorageTek.
Related Reading
StorageTek adds to archive offerings, July 2, 2004
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