Dimension Data in R11m strategic co-source agreement with Channel Life

Dimension Data has entered into a strategic co-source agreement with traditional life assurer Channel Life, in a deal worth an initial R11 million over three years.

In terms of the agreement, Dimension Data has replaced Channel Life`s entire IT infrastructure, and is now responsible for ongoing proactive support of the computing and networking environment.

"The major benefit is that our IT environment is now predictable and repeatable," says Jaco Lemmer, IT Executive of Channel Life, part of investment holding company PSG Group Ltd.

"In addition, our software portfolio is far easier to manage and audits are simple as we know exactly what is out there. End-to-end management by Dimension Data means that there are no sudden surprises, and rental agreements on our Compaq PCs help contain costs."

Channel Life has several branches countrywide - many of them remote - and is growing rapidly. Last year, senior management decided to outsource several aspects of the business that did not form part of the group`s competencies. The company also needed to upgrade its IT infrastructure, implement a central database, and more effectively manage its call centre, network and infrastructure while containing costs.

"We chose to partner with Dimension Data because of its Managed Service Centre (MSC) offering and its in-depth knowledge in terms of desktop management," says Lemmer.

The contract began in September last year with the implementation of a thin client infrastructure solution, comprising Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix Metaframe, as well as the migration of the company`s existing WAN to a Cisco-based environment. The new infrastructure went live a month later.

Dimension Data now provides world-class support, focused on meeting end-user requirements. This includes strategic technical consulting where technology direction, product choice and relevant processes are concerned.

"We work in true partnership with Channel Life," says Chris Basson, account manager at Dimension Data. "We have excellent knowledge of the company`s environment, and understand its strategic business drivers."

Dimension Data`s role includes informing Channel Life on all IT trends relevant to the company`s infrastructure including key business impact areas such as disaster recovery, security, needs analysis and capacity management. The company is also responsible for ensuring that all policies and procedures are adhered to and properly managed as well as managing all third-party suppliers.

Dimension Data`s MSC help desk is now the single point of contact for all Channel Life`s IT related calls, including calls concerning its ERP system. Call allocation and escalation is therefore managed from a single point.

"This model enables us to ensure accuracy in performance measurement of the contract, both for Dimension Data and the third-party service providers," says Basson.

The management of the desktop is a critical aspect of Dimension Data`s role at Channel Life.

"We have set up the desktop environment to take care of itself and to be managed remotely," says Basson. "The desktops have been configured to load their own operating systems and applications on request, eliminating the need for people to load or update applications. This approach is ideal for Channel Life, which has a large percentage of remote sites and desktops."

"A major advantage is that the Dimension Data MSC`s end-to-end managed enterprise solution is inherently stable," says Lemmer. "The solution has been designed for stability, eliminating the need to manage for stability.

"The nature of the solution`s architecture reduces the amount of variables we have to deal with," he says. "In our previous environment, PCs were installed and set up by different engineers. If something went wrong, there were an infinite amount of variables to consider that may have caused the error.

"Now, all software is pre-configured, loaded and tested in a laboratory environment at the MSC, and done so in the context of all other applications resident on the machines. Any potential problems are fixed at this stage. The packages are then automatically installed through the MSC software distribution tool, simultaneously and identically.

"In addition to these inherent predictable variables, we have standardised on brand - all our desktops are Compaq, we have standardised on software and also bios versions."

Another key benefit of Dimension Data`s end-to-end managed enterprise solution is that users are able to log on anywhere on the network and get access to mail and/or ERP systems.

"This gives added functionality and reduces redundancy, and addresses maintenance issues," says Basson. "Should a desktop experience hardware failure, the user can work at any other workstation while waiting for it to be repaired."

Users are unable to load applications themselves, nor make any configuration changes. This adds significantly towards creating predictability in the application portfolio.

"The need for software control on a `per PC` basis is now obsolete, and the risk to the business of spiralling IT costs, including software licences, is drastically reduced," says Basson.

Dimension Data also maintains and supports Channel Life`s WAN through its Insite service, which includes the monitoring and management of hub sand routers, and well as software deployment and upgrades.