OREANDA-NEWS. December 31, 2008. Corporate information systems are developing along three main scenarios:
Folding and freezing — assumes total cancellation of all IT development programs and reduction of IT services staff for the crisis duration. Only the minimal set of base corporate information system's functions is supported. This approach is common for companies the operations of which (quality of work, promptness, customer service level, etc.) are practically not dependent on IT.
Survival — maximum preservation of current functions and sizes of corporate IS with significant optimization of the IT budget and, possibly, reduction of the IT staff. Savings are achieved through replacement of the traditional IT facilities with alternative — less costly instruments.
Development of new advantages — execution of new corporate information systems development programs to give the company new competitive advantages for the crisis duration. However in this scenario minimization of investments in development of corporate IS receives top priority.

Special offers of I.T. Co. are designed, first of all, for IT departments heads of companies the corporate information systems of which are of the second or third type. Having accumulated the top global experience and own expertise in IS development in limited financial and human resources conditions, today I.T. Co. offers a complete set of special solutions and services. A part of them allow for a decrease in the corporate IS cost of ownership with guaranteed preservation of the corporate IT services quality level. Another part can expand the functionality, performance and scale of information systems with minimal cost of purchasing and implementing new components.
Solutions and services enhancing the performance and efficiency of the existing corporate information system operations

Information systems audit

Work of the majority of corporate information systems can be enhanced not only by replacement and purchase of new software and equipment. The professional approach makes a significant IS performance and reliability enhancement possible with the available software and equipment. An information system audit will help to identify such undiscovered resources. In cases when it is not possible to go without expansion of the equipment and software stock, IS audit will allow for development of an optimal and justified IS development investment plan.

The information system audit services offered by I.T. Co. include analysis of all key components of a corporate information system:
corporate network audit ( booklet "Technical audit of corporate networks" (in Russian), PDF, 212 KB)
audit of the software used (including licenses and licensing schemes)
information safety audit
audit of IT processes (including projects management, support, etc.).

Virtualization and consolidation of computing power and disk arrays.

Another good source for the corporate IS performance enhancement and lowering of the distributed computing resources cost of ownership is virtualization and consolidation of computing power and disk space. Thanks to this technology, the existing servers can double their workload without any loss of quality and reliability.

Automatic assets identification systems

Sufficient reserves for enhancing the efficiency of the corporate IS systems work – especially for wide-scale projects — can be gained from organization of proper real-time accounting and control of capital assets: equipment, software and other tangible assets. I.T. Co. offers solutions for organization of automatic identification of your company's assets using the latest technologies: radiofrequency identificator RFID, 2D codes, bar coding. These technologies significantly simplify the inventory taking by reducing the number of staff involved in these processes, providing for transparency and achievement of total control of inventory subjects, increasing the data collection and processing speed, simplification of documents management.
Highly scalable versatile information systems with low TCO and entry threshold

Open source-based operating systems and business-applications

Over the last several years there has been a radical change in attitude towards free software from the corporate clients. Open source software today — it is not only an obvious and significant financial benefit, given by the low initial cost of ownership. Open source software means availability of the whole scope of quality system software and applications, guaranteed safety and reliability, a big number of service companies providing customization, development and support services for open source software.

I.T. Co. offers its client a number of open source solutions. They include:
operating systems and server solutions (Red Hat Linux)
office software (OpenOffice, IBM Symphony)
electronic documents management systems working on open source software platforms (BOSS-Referent, Open Referent)
open source management system for small and medium companies (Compiere ERP)
distance education management system based on free software (Moodle)

and others.

I.T. Co. also provides the following services to companies using or planning to use open source software:
migration or "from scratch" building of open source-based IS
building of heterogeneous systems with Linux- and Microsoft-infrastructures integrated
tailored development of corporate applications based on open-source software
technical support of open source solutions
training of technical specialists and users.

Software rent

A perfect alternative to the traditional business-applications implementation projects — SaaS — Software-as-a-Service. Unlike the traditional software supply model, this method offers rent of applications and is known for low implementation and support costs, short system startup time, almost zero pilot project execution cost. What's very important – implementation of SaaS solutions does not require organizations of technical support of applications and equipment – all these tasks are covered by the "lessor".

Considering that the majority of commercial companies prioritize improvement of customer and contractor interaction systems, I.T. Co. offers the most rational solution that minimizes the time and cost of unwinding a fully-functional CRM system , — lease of SugarCRM.

Another business application important for successful operation of a company offered by I.T. Co. as SaaS is the best Russian HR management system — BOSS-Kadrovik.

Business intelligence systems

The crisis emphasizes the ability to react to changes in surrounding conditions promptly and flexibly. The ability to make prompt and correct managerial decisions is directly related to validity and speed of data acquisition about certain aspects of the organization's operations.

Implementation of a complex and expensive systems is not the only way for organization of prompt information support for the management. There is an efficient tool that can be used to collect the data needed for the company manager's work — Business intelligence systems (BI systems). BI systems have high data processing capacity, they significantly accelerate the corporate reporting procedures and provide data in the form that is convenient for practical use.

I.T. Co offers its clients Cognos Business Intelligence — a powerful BI solution that has proven itself in the Russian market.
Solutions and services providing for efficient support/development of the corporate IS without any significant spending and IT staff expansion

Outsourcing

In the global practice outsourcing is the most efficient tool for realization of secondary business and technological functions in wake of the crisis. Handing of processes over to an outside contractor bears clear financial benefits (no need to expand own staff, no need to purchase expensive equipment, etc.), as well as a number of intangible ones. They include guaranteed level of the services quality, decreasing of risks.

Another important aspect is that outsourcing is a flexible tool that can quickly and precisely adapt to changing business tasks, financial conditions, IT services level requirements, etc.

I.T. Co. has developed the most expanded outsourcing practice in Russia that includes all of the services that clients demand the most:
outsourcing of IT infrastructure technical support and administration
SAP systems support outsourcing
outsourcing of individual specialists or project teams
Software development outsourcing.

Outsourcing lets the client get precisely the services it needs in the right volume, quality and terms.

Network infrastructure configuration modification

Because of the crisis many companies face the need to reduce/increase staff, relocate employees, organize new work groups, etc. This always requires adaptation of the IT infrastructure to the new conditions. The most difficult part of such process is modernization of the cabling system that forms the base level of the IT infrastructure. The I.T. Co. specialists will reconfigure or scale the cabling system according to the changing business demands. This will eliminate the downtime of the company's entire information system due to delays related to configuration modification, malfunctioning or lack of cable lines. Promptness and efficiency in performance of these jobs is guaranteed by the vast experience of I.T. Co. in execution of similar projects and high professionalism of our staff.

Distance training of IT specialists and users

Training is a mandatory element for supporting of high quality of IT services in conditions of reduction or limited growth of the IT departments staff. In order to decrease the workload of the support services, training is required for IT specialists as well as the users of IS.

I.T. Co. offers training in information technologies, projects management, IS and information protection management with more than 500 advanced training programs, as well as testing and certification of IT specialists. Terms and cost of training can be decreased significantly through use of the distance education technologies with mixed, full time-distance programs.
Special payment terms and credit lines

Credit lines for equipment and/or software purchases

If the IT development objectives standing before the client cannot be achieved without wide-scale equipment and/or software purchases, in some cases I.T. Co., working with the biggest global IT suppliers, can offer special lending and installment schemes.

Licenses management services

In order to lower the licensing fees and cost of ownership of licensed software I.T. Co. offers its clients licenses management services. The highly qualified I.T. Co. specialists will take inventory of the software used by your company, compare the information with the number of licenses purchased and offer the optimal scheme for organization of licensing-related business processes.

It is clear that the crisis has not only complicated achievement of the current IT development objectives, but also brought up a number of new problems. Finding the successful method of their solution and significant alleviation of the crisis' effect on the corporate IS work is possible with close cooperation with a reliable, experienced and professional partner — I.T. Co.

Whenever it is convenient for you, the I.T. Co. specialists are ready to give more detailed information about the services and solutions described above: conduct meetings and presentations, send additional information materials, provide information about practical experience with specific solutions.