What is the real value of the availability and performance of your IT infrastructure? While many analyses have tried to put a static dollar figure on this value, the real answer lies in a sort of bell curve. Consider this: If your infrastructure is available or performing minimally only half of the time, more than likely its value really may be close to zero dollars. In reality, if your users could access the information they need that seldom, they would probably stop using these IT assets altogether. On the other hand, there may be little real economic value in bumping availability of your total IT services from from 99.8 to 99.99%, especially with the exorbitant costs this may entail. So, this leaves that aforementioned bell curve of an IT infrastructure's value rising dramatically from zero dollars at some availability level, then flattening somewhere north of 99%.
A primary factor in determining your infrastructure's value is the loss of revenue is caused by network unavailability or degradation. The revenue of some lines of business, such as wireless service providers and online banking, is highly dependent on the network's availability and performance; and it is relatively more straightforward to measure the impact of a lost minute or hour. However, if your line of business is in a healthcare or professional services field, your most strategic asset is your people. The value of one lost hour of IT services, while less tangible and measurable, is likely not as large as in the former case.
Each enterprise essentially utilizes a combination of two approaches to produce value in its IT Infrastructure: 1) Build a highly available set of networks, platforms and applications, and 2) Deploy service management software to detect trends and problems, and to reduce the time to repair. Perhaps in your situation, a highly available infrastructure may get you to 90%, while the properly designed and implemented service management solution offers that final 9.9%.
So, where does your IT infrastructure value curve lie? And, what is the cost you should be spending on deploying and supporting service assurance solutions? Because Windward works with the leading and most cost-effective technologies in the service assurance business, whether you are a major service provider or a small to medium sized enterprise, Windward can evaluate your situation as well as recommend and implement the right technology investment.