Optimizing IT Infrastructure for Rapid Growth
Situation—Multiple Acquisitions Create Operations & Support Issues
A large national retailer had enjoyed rapid growth over several years, resulting in acquisition of hardware and software from multiple sources and an infrastructure of disparate technologies. Furthermore, its IT staff had not been trained or augmented to support the additional systems. As a result, the business found itself dependent on their vendors for core functions like asset inventory and maintenance coverage strategy. They lacked the ability to rapidly correct problems with their mission-critical infrastructure. In addition, the focus on growth had prevented them from devoting time and resources to developing a strategy to align IT infrastructure with the retailer's business and service goals.
The retailer called upon Capto to help them develop a cohesive and comprehensive infrastructure strategy based on industry best practices and in depth product/vendor knowledge.
Solution—20% Savings in Infrastructure Maintenance and Increased Up Time
Capto conducted a thorough asset inventory and capacity review. Then, using our expertise in equipment life cycles, we recommended a service and maintenance strategy that incorporated:
- An inventory retirement plan
- A new product purchase timeline
- Service-level differentiation based on criticality of equipment and advanced sparing techniques
Capto also initiated a RFP process incorporating the revised requirements that brought additional savings to the retailer.
With our assistance, the business reaped a near-term benefit of 20% savings on infrastructure maintenance. Equally important, the asset management process created by Capto became an ongoing capability, ensuring IT infrastructure and maintenance were aligned during future growth and acquisitions.