Don't Forget About ROI

Computerworld - Las Vegas
The need to install tools that automate IT operations across multiple systems may be self-evident to data center managers. But AFCOM attendees said the senior executives who have to sign off on such projects want to see something more tangible: returns on investment.
Pete Lillo, manager of data center operations at NCCI Holdings, said he's currently working to cost-justify a proposed investment in enterprise job-scheduling software. The tools that he's considering would probably cost between $200,000 and $400,000, Lillo estimated, adding, "And I have to justify in business terms why it's necessary."
Lillo is due to present the proposal within the next couple of weeks. If all goes well, he said, an enterprise scheduler could be in place by year's end.
Mark Levin, an analyst at Meta Group, said many data center managers aren't well versed in doing ROI calculations. And the cost of new data center tools may be exacerbated by the need to hire contractors to handle the actual installation work, he added.
One of the potential benefits of multiplatform tools is a reduced need for system operators. Patrick Morassutti, manager of enterprise scheduling and batch automation at Royal Bank of Canada, said an installation of systems management middleware developed by Alpharetta, Ga.-based Stonebranch Inc. enabled the bank to cut 18 operations jobs.
But all of the affected data center workers were reassigned to other positions, and Morassutti said the big justification for installing the software as part of an 18-month project to standardize multiplatform operations was the fact that uncoordinated job scheduling was causing systems errors. "Downtime costs us more money than people do," he said.
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