Dimension Data launches IT lifecycle assessment service

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 01 October 2009 01:18

IT Industry - Strategy

Dimension Data has launched a technology lifecycle assessment serviced designed to help organisations remove risk, waste and uncertainty from their networked IT infrastructure by determining the age, revision level and 'supportability' of component hardware and software.

The service Technology Lifecycle Management Assessment (TLM Assessment) replaces and extends an existing Dimension Data service, Secure Network Infrastructure. Secure Network Infrastructure covered only for Cisco equipment with the launch, globally, of TLM Assessment, Dimension Data has added coverage of Nortel equipment.

Under TLM Assessment, Dimension Data assesses a client's IT network infrastructure to determine make, model number and age of hardware, software versions and upgrade levels and checks this against its database of information from manufacturers indicating the status of each component, in terms of whether it is currently fully patched, nearing end of age when it will no longer be supported etc. Dimension Data is then able to advice the client on replacement and upgrade requirements, costs, and criticality according to the importance that any particular item has in the clients operations.

According to George Atrash, Dimension Data Australia's general manager for connectivity, "Effective network planning and budgeting can be a major challenge for enterprises – most of whom have complex technology environments. Our service pinpoints vulnerabilities, and updates you on the lifecycle status of your network components. With such a high level of visibility, you have the time, knowledge and insight to plan for upgrades, make informed decisions on sweating the use of certain assets, and budgeting for those that need upgrades or spares."

He added: "The service identifies basic security, configuration, and end-of-life network device issues so that they can be proactively addressed. And an accurate inventory of the network empowers organisations to make the right decisions at the right time and at the right price – and with the luxury of making all those decisions in a green context."

TLM assessment also includes an energy management service. According to Atrash, this means that Dimension Data "Can advise [clients] on which equipment to replace; or what technologies, processes and practices to rationalise so as to improve their environmental impact without incurring the cost of new hardware or software."

He added: "The TLM Assessment has evolved, thanks to what we learned from 300 [Secure Network Infrastructure] assessments executed around the world in the last 18 months, and we continue to see demand for this service from our Australian clients."

New statistics from the 300-plus assessments executed to date will be released early next year in the 2010 edition of Dimension Data's Network Barometer Report. "Of the first 150 assessments performed worldwide in 2008, 73 percent of networking devices were found to be operating with security vulnerabilities. This exposes a business to external and internal security attacks and breaches, and could seriously jeopardise an organisation's ability to meet regulatory compliance," Atrash said.

Dimension Data found that almost half of all network devices had entered the obsolescence cycle, putting them at risk of extended downtime and unplanned expenditure to regain business continuity.