Open Appraisal

Before you embark on any transformation strategy it pays to talk to the experts and no one has greater expertise than Siemens. We’ve designed a 6-point appraisal that can provide you with a unique insight into the current communications infrastructure in your organisation. Which means we can assess your business drivers and therefore advise you on deploying the right solutions to meet your objectives. And you’ll be able to use the information to gain competitive advantage.

1. ICT Cost Analysis

Our assessment of all costs you are incurring for your ICT service provision, including cost summaries of:

• External service contracts eg. lifecycle and maintenance
• Leased lines for voice and data
• On-going equipment costs for upgrades and add-ons
• Assessment of in-house service costs including staffing, recruitment and training

This analysis will provide a complete picture of the cost of service delivery. Used as a benchmark for service delivery costs, it can give you a quantified point to justify the value of IT in your business and when making investment and outsourcing decisions. You can also use it tactically to persuade service providers to renegotiate lower service delivery prices.

2. Configuration & Bandwidth Audit

We’ll evaluate your current network configuration and recommend ways in which it can be optimised by stripping out unnecessary costs. We’ll do this by:

• Summarising purchased/leased bandwidth compared with business requirement
• Assessing your Least Cost Routing plan for optimisation (fixed & mobile)
• Assessing your core network configuration and current business requirement
• Identifying your redundant links and overcapacity that may be over-inflating your service costs

The analysis will highlight those areas where you are purchasing more than your technical requirement for bandwidth and leased communication links. It’ll also show you where you can optimise the cost and configuration of your network to improve its architectural simplicity.

3. Security Readiness Assessment

We’ll also assess the current state of your network’s security which will allow you to make any changes necessary to secure an Open Communications environment.  Our audit will include:

• Assessing any relevant regulatory measures and statements of company compliance
• A ‘Logical’ network security audit
• A security breech policy and measures for dealing with intrusion

Through this valuable assessment tool you’ll become fully aware of all the regulatory compliance issues in your sector. Not only will it allow you to mitigate unknown financial risks, it will also enable you to optimise revenue potential by achieving the correct level of compliance in your business. What’s more, because your network is secure, you can avoid the threat of un-authorised or fraudulent access to company data and systems.

4. Network Suitability Assessment

Our fourth check assesses the suitability of your LAN/WAN environment to carry real time voice and data at full or staged capacity levels. With this knowledge you’ll be able to determine the full extent of any investment decisions you may have to make. It’ll also provide you with the reassurance that your mission-critical applications will still be available and reliable in a real time environment.

5. Business Continuity Assessment

Do you have any disaster recovery or business continuity measures? What risk are you exposed to and are your measures fit for purpose? We can tell you the best way to mitigate risk and prepare for unexpected and unplanned down time or catastrophic system failure or damage.

6. Technology Inventory

Finally, we’ll present you with a physical map of the communications technology and equipment deployed across your enterprise. This will enable you to make informed configuration decisions and put together the best business case for new technologies.  You’ll also know what you can strip out, and its value to reduce physical assets and calculate how much you can save in terms of servicing and ongoing costs.  

Contact Us
To find out more about the Siemens’ 6-point Open Appraisal and arrange a consultation.