Network & Infrastructure Services Archives - Page 5 of 6

How to spot a failing outsourced relationship

Posted on: 8 November 2021

A relationship breakdown is never easy, not least when it’s with your IT outsourcing partner. But what makes a seemingly good relationship go bad, and can you spot the signs of impending IT outsourcing failure before it’s too late? To get some insight from both sides of the relationship, we asked Backbone Connect Co-founder and Director, David McLeod, as well as our own CACI Network Services Sales Director, Liam Delaney, to share their outsourcing experiences, reveal the red flags to watch, and the secret to maintaining a successful relationship with an IT outsourcing partner. Here’s what they told us…

1. Communication has broken down

One of the earliest warning signs that your relationship with your IT outsourcing partner is flagging is that the frequency of your communication has dropped. “There’s always a honeymoon period with any new outsourcing relationship – the energy levels are high, and contact is constant,” explains David. “The issues arise when that contact becomes less routine and conversations turn forced and fractious,” he continues.

“Confusion about how a team should communicate with their outsourcing partner can also lead to protracted conversations and frustrations from both sides of the relationship if they’re not clearly defined at the outset,” says Liam. Further, changes over time can significantly contribute to communication barriers. “Through the duration of any long-term outsourcing relationship, team members leave, and a legacy starts to develop, which limits the potential of your outsourcing partnership,” says David. Liam agrees, “Whenever there’s a major personnel change on either side of the partnership, it’s time to review the service and make sure that it’s still meeting your needs.”

2. The vision has become (or already was) blurry

While both David and Liam agree that a successful IT outsourcing relationship is one that evolves over time, Liam highlights the necessity of starting the relationship with clear expectations. “You can’t outsource a problem that you can’t define,” he warns. “Outsourcing partnerships can bring a wealth of expertise and experience into your team as well as achieve cost savings, but you need to be clear on what success you’re looking to achieve.” If the goals aren’t clear, it can be difficult for an outsourcing provider to take effective action.

David also advocates working with outsourcing partners whose cultural values align with your business to ensure longevity in the relationship. “Your business’s culture is the one constant, unchangeable thing, so it should be one of the key measures you use when considering any potential outsourcing provider.” He adds, “Put simply, if you’re wearing t-shirts, and they arrive in business suits, you’re likely to have a problem.”

3. Fingers are being pointed

“When something goes wrong and blame is being thrown around, you stop being on the same team and your pathway forward becomes blocked,” says David. Liam agrees, “A good outsourcing provider is one that acts as an extension of your team, always looking to add value and deliver positive outcomes, especially when tackling an unexpected challenge.”

While it’s important to understand why a problem has occurred, both David and Liam agree that maintaining open, honest and constant communication can ensure both sides of an outsourcing relationship resolve conflicts and challenges together, although David notes that “when you seem to have a stream of issues, a stigma can become attached to the outside party, making it difficult for that partnership to continue effectively if it’s not addressed.”

Liam says that establishing a communications flow which facilitates continuous feedback is one way to avoid minor problems becoming bigger issues, although he also acknowledges the value in a proactive vendor – “At CACI, we’re always trying to anticipate our clients’ potential roadblocks and challenges, so we’re providing solutions before something becomes a problem.”

4. Your contract has become a constraint

A contract provides both parties in an outsourcing relationship the benefit of structure and protection, but it can become a barrier to progress when projects pivot in a new direction. Working with a vendor that can be flexible and offer an element of elasticity in their approach can help to avoid partners becoming stuck in a bind.

However, the size of an outsourcing provider can also impact on how agile a partner can afford to be, warns David. “Smaller organisations are typically more agile than bigger providers, but they can be highly volatile as they grow and evolve, which can lead to issues later. On the flip side, a very large outsourcing provider may not be able to offer the personal, value-add partnership that you’re looking for.”

Liam also advises that businesses pay attention to the finer details when firming up their outsourcing requirement. “It’s important to consider the unexpected and unusual use case scenarios. You can’t capture everything, but having awareness and alerting your vendor of the potential changes and challenges ahead means they can be prepared to act and adapt, preventing your project from coming to a standstill.”

5. You’re not growing together

“A clear sign that your outsourced relationship isn’t working is when you start to feel anchored,” says David. An outsourced relationship that continues to evolve and enhance your business as it grows is one that is truly valuable according to our experts. One way to form a relationship that adds long-term value is to select an outsourcing partner that has a wider capability offering. “I’m always thinking about the longevity of a relationship, looking beyond the initial requirement, and thinking about what else we can do to add value to our clients,” says Liam.

Nonetheless, capability isn’t the only thing to look out for. As Liam explains, having a future-focused mindset is also critical to a long-standing relationship. “I believe that the most successful partnerships are the ones where the provider brings both vision and value. They’re not just focused on what the client currently does, but they’re looking at what else they can be doing to improve.”

However, both our experts noted that, like any relationship, an outsourcing relationship requires investment and trust to realise its full potential. “It’s all about building and nurturing a partnership,” says Liam. David agrees and adds, “Trust is critical, and it’s not established overnight. Take the time to get the basics right – once you’ve got that with the right partner, you can achieve much bigger things.”

Looking for an outsourcing partner to help with your network operations? Contact our expert team today.

3 network transformation opportunities – and how to make them happen

Posted on: 28 September 2021

With digital transformation initiatives high on many organisations’ agendas and the impact of COVID-19 changing how most of us work forever, network transformation has never been more important.

And the truth is, there are a wide range of network transformation vendors to choose from. But most take a transactional approach to network transformation, delivering little value beyond the basic works carried out.

Rather than an “in and out” service, great network transformation relies on an end-to-end partnership-based approach, with your vendor working closely to understand all your requirements. It can also sometimes mean working across multiple lines of business and projects to deliver network transformation programmes at scale.

In working on multiple network transformation projects with one of our major transportation clients, there were some interesting opportunities we’d like to share. Here are three potential opportunities to be had by working with a network transformation specialist.

Opportunity #1 – Turn spare network capacity into additional revenue

For organisations with vast internal networks, there’s significant opportunity to commercially monetise spare capacity and offer greater flexibility to customers.

With a significant fibre network across its estate stretching tens of thousands of miles, our client realised that any spare capacity could be used for commercial applications to help generate additional revenue.

Using an end-to-end delivery process, we developed and launched a dark fibre service to help our client deliver connectivity as a service, in a way that was repeatable and efficient.

We kicked off the project by mapping out the client’s service lifecycle to identify any capability gaps. Once this was established, we brought together a selection of our client’s stakeholders virtually and ran interactive workshops to walk through draft processes, focusing on providing end customer service.

Following a successful service launch, several end customers now use our client’s services, with our client driving continuous improvements across the network. And we’re now working with our client to deploy the service across its wider network and develop a service model and approach for future deployments – allowing our client to develop its offering.

Opportunity #2 – Tackle customer complaints to strengthen relationships

In large organisations, it can often be a challenge to discover and resolve issues that directly impact customers. Following the regionalisation of our client’s legacy telecom assets, our client found that many of its asset managers were concerned about whether its legacy voice estate was fit for purpose.

Working with our client’s leadership team, we devised and managed a service improvement plan, which involved understanding the issues and what was needed to resolve them.

To help stakeholders mobilise the plan, we set up management reporting processes and acted as an intermediary between our client’s leadership and account management teams.

In just four weeks, we helped our client reach a resolution around its legacy voice estate, and moved the focus to other areas of concern – delivering improved service to our client’s regions.

Opportunity #3 – Dramatically reduce data centre costs

Outdated technology can be a significant drain on resources. And while it can be all too tempting to throw money and resources at the problem, this strategy can often cause more problems than it solves.

Our client had an ageing data centre infrastructure which was interfering with its ability to deliver a reliable service. What’s more, it was keen to ensure its mission-critical applications were always available. With its legacy technology approaching end of life and support, we recommended an infrastructure migration.

We worked closely with key stakeholders to create a test organisation at the start of the project to support the migration, helping our client build two new data centres with modern technology stacks.

Ensuring a thorough assurance process was used throughout to maintain regulatory compliance, we oversaw the design, implementation, and migration phases. And to confirm all programme deliverables were managed correctly, CACI developed a project management and testing platform using Jira and Zephyr.

By working closely with our client throughout the project, we helped the company save £40K and delivered the project two months ahead of schedule. Looking to the future, we’re now working with our client in an advisory role, helping it to shortlist an operating partner.

Network transformation: a world of opportunity

While network transformation opportunities can be wide-ranging and cover several lines of business, it’s important to select an outsourced vendor that also understands the importance of being a familiar point of contact.

Often embedded in clients’ teams for maximum impact, our end-to-end services allow our clients to benefit from a portfolio of skills and resources, helping them free up their teams to focus on more strategic activities.

To find out more about how we can help you design and implement network services – and even unite third party stakeholders – across your organisation, get in touch with our team of experts today.

7 signs that your company needs to outsource IT

Posted on: 21 September 2021

From reducing costs to meeting tight project deadlines and accessing specialist expertise, there are many advantages that come with outsourcing IT, but when does outsourcing offer the most benefit to businesses? We asked Brian Robertson, Resource Manager at CACI, to reveal the common signs that indicate a business would be better with an outsourced IT solution.

1. Your IT costs are high

Are budget worries keeping you up at night? Cost control is the most obvious reasons for businesses outsourcing IT. Indeed, a 2020 study by Whitelane Research found that 71% of UK businesses said that cost reduction was the main driver for outsourcing IT. But, is outsourcing really cost-effective?

“Just having a couple of IT specialists on your payroll can really rack up costs,” says Brian. It’s not just high salaries and the cost of employee benefits that are a concern. Companies that opt to run in-house IT departments also face the costs of purchasing, maintaining, and upgrading hardware as well as purchasing the software they need. “With outsourcing, these fixed costs become flexible, allowing you greater control of your budget,” says Brian.

2. You have skills gaps

The severe shortage in tech skills has long been a challenge for businesses, but as Brian explains, “The pandemic put organisations across every industry on a fast-speed trajectory to digitalisation.” He adds, “now, the focus is to keep that momentum going, but we’re seeing that many of our clients are looking for very specific expertise in a fiercely competitive and increasingly expensive marketplace.”

With recent research by ManpowerGroup finding that 69%, of employers globally are struggling to find workers with the right blend of technical and interpersonal skills, it’s clear that many businesses are fighting a losing battle. “This is where working with a trusted IT outsourcing partner can prove to be a strategic move,” says Brian. “A good outsourcer will always assess their client’s requirements holistically – matching skills and experience as well as cultural fit with end goals.”

3. Your IT infrastructure is outdated

“IT infrastructure is a vital component in every business, but it can become a huge drain on productivity, not to mention a growing security risk if not invested in,” warns Brian. He adds, “However, upgrading an outdated infrastructure is a resource investment that many lean I.T departments can ill-afford, creating a stalemate situation that prevents a business from maintaining competitive advantage.”

Therefore, if a business is struggling to maintain and manage its day-to-day IT operations, outsourcing may provide a practical solution. In addition to unlocking access to the latest and greatest tech, working with a reliable IT outsourcing partner will ensure your IT operations are optimised for enhanced performance, releasing your in-house staff to focus their efforts on achieving your business objectives.

4. Your business is vulnerable to security threats

Cyber security breaches are increasing. According to a survey released by GOV.UK last year, 46% of UK businesses and charities reported a cyber attack during the year, with 33% of those claiming they experienced a cyber breach at least once a week in 2020 – up from 22% in 2017.

The growing sophistication of cybercrime puts immense pressure on in-house teams as they struggle to stay on top of critical security practices such as 24/7 networking whilst also maintaining the myriad security systems they have in place. As Brian warns, “When it comes to cyber security, it’s not just a case of having the right technology in place, you need round-the-clock specialists that have the experience and expertise to utilise those tools and prevent potential threats before they become a problem.”

The global shortage in professionals with the right security skill sets are an additional challenge for businesses as they struggle to recruit and retain the specialists they need. Partnering with a trusted IT outsourcer can provide a cost-effective and reliable solution, as outsourcing removes vulnerabilities by ensuring a business’s security defences are ‘always on’.

5. Compliance is a concern

While cyber security is one concern, ensuring regulatory compliance is another, particularly in heavily regulated industries such as financial services. Failure to comply can lead to reputational damage and hefty fines, but to ensure compliance, organisations must have the capability to implement, maintain, monitor, and accurately report on IT infrastructure and security processes. As Brian explains, a partnership with a reliable IT outsourcer can offer significant value to a business that is under pressure to maintain compliance, “As well as providing the necessary resources and expertise to ensure compliance, an outsourcing partner will keep abreast of regulation changes, so your business is always one step ahead.”

6. You need flexibility

When you’re embarking on a new project, getting the right people with the right skill sets in place can be a difficult task. While upskilling your existing team members can be beneficial, inexperience coupled with a limited bandwidth can pose major risks to your project delivery as well as have a negative impact on your day-to-day operations. These problems are more acute if your delivery deadline is tight.

“Hiring new talent in-house is an option, but often it’s not the best one if a project is short-term or requires a range of specialist skill sets,” explains Brian. In these instances, partnering with an IT outsourcer can provide the most strategic, timely and cost-effective route forward because solutions are tailored to your specific needs. “Clients also gain from the insights and expertise of an experienced team – with the added benefit of elasticity to adapt if requirements change,” says Brian.

7. You need niche expertise

More budget-friendly than hiring a team of in-house specialists, and more reliable than challenging your existing team, outsourcing IT is often the most effective option when it comes to delivering projects that require niche expertise such as cyber security. Brian also highlights the benefit of introducing an outside perspective, “One of the most overlooked benefits of outsourcing is that businesses don’t just get access to specific skills and knowledge, they get to tap into a whole wealth of experience.”

“That’s why it’s so important to look for an IT outsourcing partner that has a proven record of proficiency and delivering results. Knowing what’s worked before, how to handle specific challenges, and what pitfalls to avoid –is truly invaluable to finding the solution that’s really going to work for your business.”

Looking for a reliable IT outsourcing partner? Share your requirements with our expert team today.

7 Big Digital Transformation Questions: Answered

Posted on: 7 July 2021

Embarking on a major digital transformation project is an exciting time for any business. Whatever new technologies you want to embrace – be it cloud, automation, virtualisation or AI & machine learning – your next steps are going to have a profound impact on your processes and operations for years to come.

With that in mind, it’s important to ask the right questions now and make sure your first steps are the right ones. To help you get started, we’ve pulled together seven of the most common questions business leaders ask when planning digital transformation projects and provided tips to help you along the way.

QUESTION 1: AM I TRANSFORMING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS?

This is a fundamental question that only you will be able to answer for yourself. We’ve all been in the situation where we’ve seen an exciting new technology and leapt to embrace it before really considering whether it’s the right move.

If you want to check that you’re making the right choices for your business and changing for the right reasons, engage stakeholders from across the business, plan properly, and talk to everyone to ensure your plans are a response to genuine needs.

QUESTION 2: SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT WALKING AWAY FROM MY SUNK COSTS?

You’ve invested a lot of money into the hardware and software you rely on today. But that doesn’t mean you should continue to invest in it if it’s not delivering what you need it to.

Be ruthless if the benefits of walking away from your existing solution outweigh the status quo. Then walk away as soon as possible to avoid sinking further costs into your current technology.

QUESTION 3: WHICH VENDOR IS RIGHT FOR ME?

The reality with most solutions is that there is always some kind of either vendor or technology lock-in which may increase costs later down the line – but that’s not always a terrible thing.

Take steps to conduct an unbiased review of potential vendors and ensure you understand how you will be locked in, as well as the possible future costs you could incur for time, effort and ongoing support.

QUESTION 4: SHOULD I GO OFF THE SHELF OR OPEN SOURCE?

It’s one of the most important questions you’ll have to answer along your digital transformation journey; should you buy a proven off-the-shelf solution, or build your own to get exactly what you need?

“Most off the shelf solutions will 90 90% of what you want. You need to decide whether that extra 10% is business critical from a capability perspective”

With off the shelf, you get greater ease of deployment without the need for heavyweight development skills. With open source, you gain the flexibility to build whatever you need and respond to your exact business demands.

Most off the shelf solutions will do 90% of what you want. You need to decide whether that extra 10% is business critical from a capability perspective. Then, you must be really sure that you can get your own skills and resources together to develop and support that 10%.

QUESTION 5: HOW MUCH IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION REALLY GOING TO COST?

The answer to this question will vary greatly depending on the solutions you choose to embrace. But you can take a lot of the guesswork out of cost estimation by looking out for potential hidden costs as you select and deploy your chosen solutions.

Often, you’ll buy a product then you’ll have to pay extra for licenses and ongoing support. As you evaluate your technology choices, establish what these costs are likely to be upfront and ensure you have the budget to fully cover the real cost of your chosen transformative tech.

QUESTION 6: CAN I REPLICATE THE SUCCESS OF DIGITAL GIANTS BY FOLLOWING WHAT THEY’VE DONE?

When embarking on a major digital transformation project, it’s easy for businesses to start trying to replicate the successes of global digital giants like Facebook, Google or Amazon. At this stage, it’s important to keep your feet on the ground and recognise that you are not any of these businesses. What worked for them likely isn’t right for your business.

Look to see if there are best practices you can take away from large organisations that you look up to. But be realistic in regard to your organisation, its size, and your business needs. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to digital transformation. Just because one company has achieved success in one way doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you.

QUESTION 7: HOW MUCH TRAINING WILL MY PEOPLE NEED TO GET UP TO SPEED?

Once a deployment has been made, a lot of project managers think ‘job done’. In reality, the deployment is just the beginning of your digital transformation.

Your people need to be trained in how to get the most from new deployments quickly. Ideally, training should be conducted in full while the solution is fresh, interest in it is at its peak, and the consultants deploying the solution are still on-site.

The longer you wait, the greater the risk that people will either use your chosen solution in a way that isn’t aligned to the original KPIs of your transformation project, or maybe not even embrace it at all!

NEED HELP? TALK TO THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION EXPERTS

Ultimately, your digital transformation won’t look exactly like anybody else’s. You need to make the right choices and find the right answers for your business. That can be a challenging process, but with the help of expert consultants and deployment teams, the whole process can be simplified – freeing you to focus on establishing exactly what your people, your customers and your business needs.

To find out how CACI can help you take the complexity out of digital transformation today.

Supporting the UK smart meter programme

Posted on: 6 July 2021

nPower is now owned by E.ON, supplying energy to some 5 million residential customers.

nPower was mandated to support the UK Smart Meter programme and as such, will utilise the DCC Smart Meter services for their existing estate of SMETS 1 meters and future SMETS 2 meter estate. They sought a testing partner to access deep knowledge and understanding of both SMETS 2 and SMETS 1 smart meter technology as well as Zigbee for their Smart Meter programme.

THE CHALLENGE…

nPower have deployed and operate a large population of their own SMETS 1 specification meters and communications hubs using their own infrastructure and have also procured communication services from external suppliers.

However, under the UK Smart Meter Programme, Energy Suppliers are mandated to use the DCC Data and Communications services that will utilise SMETS 2, GBCS and Zigbee specifications. They therefore sought expert training and testing resource to support their existing teams on the nPower Smart Meter programme.

THE SOLUTION…

CACI immediately deployed expert test lead and Zigbee experts into the nPower Smart test programme. We assessed the current knowledge of the existing team and reviewed requirement specifications and testing plans. CACI developed training material for nPower resources and executed knowledge transfer sessions to build nPower’s knowledge.

We delivered direct expert testing capability across these technologies and have supported the nPower programme with a flexible Ramp-Up/Ramp-Down model to allow testing peaks to be accommodated at short notice using CACI’s resources.

THE RESULTS…

This Smart Meter Testing service has been instrumental in supporting nPower’s Smart programme, to allow them to meet the government’s deadlines. CACI have built detailed knowledge of SMETS 2 and Zigbee technologies within nPower, and supported nPower with subject matter experts throughout our partnership.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or want to learn more, get in touch today.

Helping Centrica deliver a better service

Posted on: 5 July 2021

Centrica PLC is a FTSE 100 multinational utility company employing over 37,000 people, with annual revenue of £26bn and 30 million customer accounts. Centrica sources, trades, generates, processes, services, stores and supplies energy to businesses and consumers in the UK and North America.

THE CHALLENGE…

Centrica’s telephony and networks department is constantly striving to deliver the very best service to its 30 million customers. Improving IT, delivery and technology capabilities is fundamental to this, yet the internal project delivery function managing these improvements was staffed predominantly by contract resources creating a number of challenges.

Contract resource wasn’t aligned with corporate strategy; they added management overheads to the business and exposed Centrica to risk with individuals possessing niche expertise leaving the company. Costs were also escalating as critical individuals became expensive to retain.

The telephony and networks department decided to introduce a single outsourced delivery service to manage these issues, whilst at the same time improving network and IT delivery services across its business. Centrica needed to find a supplier with a proven track record in delivering complex network and IT projects, able to continually resource demand, and mitigate risk by ensuring knowledge was retained and shared with the business.

THE SOLUTION…

Centrica selected CACI as their managed services delivery partner to help them deliver a number of complex network and IT projects.

Their engagements included:

Delivery management.
CACI developed requirements in-line with both the business and suppliers to agree and deliver solutions across telephony and networks. This brought together experts in firewall, architecture, IS security and operations.

Firewall management.
Working across the entire security estate, CACI designed, documented and delivered changes to the firewall in accordance with Centrica’s standards and agreed SLAs.

We selected CACI because they had a unique combination of large scale and multiple project delivery experience with high technical competence across network, IT, security and operations. They were also willing and able to adopt Centrica’s existing processes, while proposing and implementing improvements based upon their own knowledge across multiple comparable enterprises.

Kifi Dalvey, Senior Project Manager

RESULTS & BENEFITS…

Working closely with Centrica’s key internal stakeholders, CACI deployed a flexible resourcing model, (scaled up or down as projects required), minimising commercial risk whilst satisfying customer expectations. Centrica has also benefitted from a consistent delivery methodology, regular financial and service reviews that have helped to improve cost control, reduced management overhead and a consolidated supplier list.

Benefits from specific projects have included:

Company-wide room booking system: Including development, packaging, testing and deployment, this programme is expected to save Centrica £9m in catering and room booking costs over 5 years.

Video conferencing: Comprising 45 video conference end-points located across Centrica and British Gas businesses, video conferencing was migrated to a fully hosted, centralised service from Vodafone. Centrica has since cut 10% of its travel and accommodation costs in just one year.

Voice transformation: By replacing all legacy telephony systems with Cisco Unified Communications and Genesys Intelligent Network Routing, CACI was able to help Centrica consolidate technologies and rationalise suppliers and associated support contracts.

Call routing: CACI designed and deployed a British Gas Services and Business Intelligent Call Routing programme, integrating it with SAP CRM and business workflows to optimise call delivery. Call handling time has since been reduced and customer experience improved.

Successful project delivery aside, CACI’s service reviews have helped us to understand much more about financial recharging throughout each quarter, what project milestones have been achieved and what service improvements we should be considering and implementing each month.

Peter Pratt, Head of Telephony & Networks

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or want to learn more, get in touch today.

Network & Infrastructure Services

The five hallmarks of a great Life Cycle Management (LCM) strategy in Financial Services

Posted on: 10 May 2021

As more organisations take advantage of AI, machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT) technology, ensuring network devices and infrastructure are supported, maintained, secured and up to date will be critical. Not least in financial services, where in 2019, US regulators fined Capital One $80 million for a breach of its data.

A well-structured and achievable life cycle management strategy is essential for all organisations so choosing the right LCM partner can make a huge difference to your operations and free your IT teams to focus on more impactful and innovative activities.

Based on our experience of running multiple large scale LCM programmes within enterprise clients, we have put together 5 core competencies which you should look for when choosing your LCM partner.

Hallmark #1 – They’re quick to react and can deliver at scale

Large infrastructure refresh projects are, by their very nature, time consuming. But while it’s important to do a good job, this shouldn’t come at the expense of project schedules or budgets.

That’s why it’s important to look for an LCM partner that doesn’t just have the right skills, but can also effectively communicate at any level and demonstrate sound planning with outcome-based objectives. In addition, they should also show a proven track record of successful project delivery – at scale, and in a way that adapts to changing requirements.

With the right resources and management, it’s possible to deliver both speed and scale.

Hallmark #2 – They take complete process ownership

Fast-paced, dynamic environments need strong leadership and experienced people to take control. Without them, projects can quickly run over time and budget, and even create more problems than they set out to address.

Your supplier should have the confidence to liaise with not just you, but other suppliers along the chain. They should always be looking at things from a holistic perspective and looking towards creative, collaborative, progressive solutions rather than playing the blame game if there are delays.

An LCM vendor that’s willing to take complete control of your process is usually easy to spot, as they’ll have a track record of going above and beyond their basic requirements. It’s something any trustworthy vendor will be keen to demonstrate from the off.

Hallmark #3 – They work in partnership to achieve a shared goal

Rather than a transactional customer-supplier relationship, the best LCM vendors take a collaborative approach that considers the entire project lifecycle. This way, your vendor can better spot time and cost-saving opportunities, and identify and mitigate risks before they impact your operations.

By treating an environment as an end-to-end ecosystem – including working effectively with all your relevant suppliers – your LCM vendor can decide on the best way to replace your infrastructure, while causing the least disruption.

It’s an approach that’s paid dividends for one of our Investment Banking clients. By providing a bridge between the bank’s IT engineers and its physical infrastructure suppliers, we were able to save them £100,000 just by swapping out a single component type.

Hallmark #4 – They focus on communication (but know when to take the initiative)

The biggest roadblock to effective project management is poor vendor communication with you and your suppliers, which can lead to longer project cycles and wasted resources.

It’s a simple concept, but one that far too many LCM vendors get wrong – especially in the Enterprise arena.

By choosing an LCM partner that focuses on multi-stakeholder communication, you can be safe in the knowledge that critical project decisions are being made based on accurate data and facts – supported by previous experience – and communicated to you in a way that keeps you in complete control.

On the flip side, your time is precious, and you don’t always want to be consulted at every stage. So, it’s also important that you trust that your partner has the skills, experience and confidence to make decisions on your behalf where appropriate, and only come to you when necessary.

Hallmark #5 – They have significant, demonstrable experience

The key attributes of a great LCM partner are nothing without the right experience. An experienced vendor will be familiar with your goals and able to see your project from a different perspective – offering valuable advice based on their past client successes.

Simply, experience is the driver that can save you time and money, and even help give your devices and infrastructure the longevity to stay reliable and secure well into the future.

LCM should be a partnership, not just a vendor relationship

Technical failure in financial services organisations is simply out of the question. So for many, it can be all too tempting to throw money and resources at a solution.

But the truth is, LCM requires a more nuanced approach, supported by open communication, end-to-end project management, and skilled IT engineers capable of making the right decisions – no matter the size or scope of the project.

At CACI, we pride ourselves on having the agility to help our clients react quickly, supported by the scale to reliably complete projects on time and within budget.

What’s more, our skilled project managers and engineers have decades of experience delivering LCM for some of the world’s biggest financial institutions, so you can be safe in the knowledge your needs are being taken care of.

To find out more about our collaborative approach to life cycle management, take a look at our network services capabilities.

How CACI helped Direct Line Group (DLG) successfully migrate to new infrastructure

Posted on: 26 April 2021

BACKGROUND

When Direct Line Group (DLG) separated from the Royal Bank of Scotland, it needed a way to migrate all of its services and digital assets to a new infrastructure securely, efficiently, and within a tight deadline.

THE CHALLENGE

Establish a secure new infrastructure for DLG’s data and services
Securely migrate data from the infrastructure previously shared with RBS
Complete the migration quickly, with minimal downtime.

THE SOLUTION

A team of eight CACI Network Engineers, Consultants and Service Delivery Managers helped DLG migrate to a new iSNP (Interim Secure Network Perimeter). This was a mission critical piece of security infrastructure which allowed for RBS hosted applications to continue to be consumed by 12,000 DLG employees (including RBS desktops) and for data to be transferred as part of the migration activity between RBS and the new DLG data centres.
Working alongside the core IT staff within DLG and other key suppliers, all aspects of network implementation and management were taken care of
Full support before, during and after the migration
A dedicated team of CACI experts remains both on-site and remotely to manage the new infrastructure.

THE RESULTS

DLG laid the foundation for a successful digital future
The migration was completed quickly, avoiding potential fees from RBS
A secure network perimeter was established, which has been running since 2013
The CACI team has helped DLG with multiple other challenges – reaching out further into the business and helping the organisation master its network and data.

RELATED SERVICES

Network Architecture & Design

To view the full customer story, click here.

CONTACT US

To learn more about migrating to new infrastructure or find out how CACI can help, get in touch today.

Impact Mentoring – improving outcomes for vulnerable young people and families

Posted on: 1 April 2021

One thing that has come under the spotlight in the UK during the Covid pandemic has been ensuring fair access to education for all children. The school environment is often a hugely positive one for many children, offering structure as well as education and, in some cases, meals.

Impact Mentoring was founded by Wayne Cockram to mentor and support children who were struggling with their education and circumstances, inside and outside of schools. “By providing one-to-one mentoring, which so many children need, it develops a trusting, supportive relationship and helps to raise aspirations. Once a young person knows what they want to be, they better understand the importance of education and see school as an important part of their journey, ultimately improving their outcomes,” he explains.

“School is such an important welfare support system for kids. Impact Mentoring is largely funded by the schools, to help us go in and work their students, but when the school holidays come around, that funding stops. To address this gap, we set up the charitable arm of Impact Mentoring, Ignite Life, enabling us to further help kids who simply become isolated during the holidays. We realised that we needed to stop this from happening as a lot of good work was being undone during the school holidays.”

The charity has covered some impressive ground, delivering tangible benefits to young people who needed them most. “We realised that three hours of mentoring wasn’t enough for some of these kids, they needed specialist support,” explains Wayne. “Trauma in early life is a key factor in why some children find learning almost impossible. Specialist therapeutic help such as counselling can repair these issues, but often the wait can be 18 months or more. Going private isn’t an option to most families either, as the costs can be out of reach.”

Ignite Life has provided counselling sessions for young people that are free to schools, parents and the local authority, with an eight-day turnaround from referral, giving these young people the help they need, when they need it.

With the onset of Covid and the subsequent lockdowns and closures of schools, Wayne and his team identified another area of need. “The food vouchers are a great idea in theory, if you can get to the supermarket, do your shopping and get it all home,” he says. “My colleague Tom Gould decided that he would reach out to the some of families around us to see if they needed help with getting food. A lot of families have, for example, children with disabilities, and it makes getting to the shops, doing your shopping and then getting home incredibly difficult under normal circumstances.

“So, Tom started helping out with a few families. We thought, initially, that we might have 20-25 families to support in this way, but we now have over 150. We’re helping to feed over 500 people in our community each week.”

Another challenge posed to these families, and particularly the children, is accessing education during Covid. Many do not have access to the internet, so continuing their education away from the school environment is nigh on impossible.

“We’ve set up an environment here at Impact Mentoring where these kids can come and use our laptops and access the internet,” explains Wayne. “We always have a team of our mentors onsite to help them. This is helpful in many ways; it enables them to continue their educational journey, it gets them out of the house and into a safe space and we can offer them help with their homework and school tasks. Many come from families where such access and support are impossible. We’ve set up a really vibrant, aspirational environment for them here, somewhere where they actively want to come and spend time.”

Impact Mentoring also assists some of the children by giving them laptops that they can take home with them. “This enables us to deliver mobile sessions to some of the children, particularly those who can’t come to our site to use them,” adds Wayne. “This helps to increase the capacity of our services and help more children.”

You can find our more about Impact Mentoring and the important work it does here. And learn more about Ignite Life here. CACI is proud to be supporting Impact Mentoring by donating laptops to the centre.