Process/Results:
Reducing costs while preparing for the future
Measuring is an art for this client. It’s known worldwide for tracking and analyzing what people buy and watch in real time. To maintain a leadership position, the client requires an amazing amount of IT resources and budget. So, when opportunities arise to reduce IT costs and streamline operations, the client takes note.
Leveraging their existing relationships with the measurement and analytics company, WWT and Microsoft proposed migrating select workloads from VMware View to Microsoft Hyper-V to save money and enable service automation for new applications. The move would also enable better IT resource consumption monitoring and optimization, as well as establish an easier path to eventually migrate workloads to Microsoft Azure cloud services.
Fact:
The client has a presence in territories comprising 90 percent of the world’s population
Cisco revenue: $250,000 in FlexPod components
The value of a Hyper-V and Azure expert
What the project needed to ensure a smooth migration was a talented digital solutions integrator with extensive experience moving organizations from VMware to Hyper-V and Azure. That partner was FyrSoft, a Houston-based enterprise consulting services provider specializing in business solutions that automate IT management and workflow across the desktop, data center, and cloud. FyrSoft is part of the People Tech Group and has conducted the most VMware to Hyper-V migrations to date.
Closely coordinated efforts result in fast deployment
Working with Microsoft on the technology strategy and defining current and future business objectives with the client, FyrSoft created a migration plan and detailed software requirements for the hardware platform. Those specifications were the basis for WWT to create a custom FlexPod converged infrastructure system.
Once the FlexPod solution was ready, FyrSoft installed the Microsoft environment and as planned, everything worked the first time. That also proved to be the case during the actual migration of the workloads. Since deployment, FyrSoft reports that there have been no support issues to date.
Client:
One of the largest waste management companies in the U.S.
Reseller/Partner:
Cisco Gold Certified Partner with existing client relationship
Process/Results:
Network modernization needed to enhance operations
When serving millions of customers in different regions, even small improvements in processes and operations can make a substantial financial impact. One idea is to leverage the Internet of Things, such as putting sensors on waste collection trucks, to increase work productivity. Another is to streamline and enhance mobile application delivery to users. However, before new technologies could be effectively employed, the client needed to modernize its network infrastructure. The client’s team selected Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI) and conducted an internal implementation.
Fact:
More than 2K
municipalities and communities served.
Cisco revenue: $524,000 Cisco Tetration order
Underutilization turns into faster time to value
Though Cisco ACI had been implemented, the Cisco Gold Partner recognized that the client was not taking full advantage of it. Production workloads had yet to run in the environment.
The partner recommended that the client speak to Xentaurs, a veteran Cisco Digital Systems Integrator (Cisco DSI) partner. Xentaurs uses a proven engagement methodology that drives adoption and utilization of existing Cisco products. They helped outline how the client could save significant operating costs and realize other goals, such as application segmentation, faster. By adding Cisco Tetration Analytics, the client could achieve business objectives in 4-6 months versus 18 months.
The collaboration and cooperation between the Cisco Gold Partner, Xentaurs, and Cisco were key components to why this deal came together and closed in less than 5 months.
This proposal expanded Cisco’s account footprint and created a significant competitive advantage. In total, the product sales were $524,000 with the likelihood to increase to more than $1 million in additional services and solutions. And that’s just the beginning.
A thriving relationship with future opportunities
Because of the capabilities demonstrated by Xentaurs, discussions are already underway for future projects involving private cloud, security, DevOps transformation, and data center modernization. These projects are forecast to be worth up to $5 million in products and services over the next three to five years.
Client:
Global information services company specializing in healthcare, legal, tax, finance, accounting, and compliance markets
Reseller/Partner:
People Tech
Process/Results:
Solution used by more than 200,000 users worldwide
The client offers a research-focused application for professionals, researchers, students, and information managers in the scientific and healthcare communities around the world. Users rely on it for the information they need to investigate theories, fuel innovation, and enhance patient care quality. The solution is one of the client’s highest revenue producing apps, yet it’s also one of its most costly to maintain and occupies more than 30 percent of its IT infrastructure footprint.
Fact:
150+ Countries
Cisco revenue: $2 million, with potential additional revenue coming from pull-through opportunities
Modernizing a homegrown app
Built on nearly 3.5 million lines of code amassed over 30 years and running on the soon-to-be discontinued Oracle SPARC system, an app infrastructure upgrade was in order.
Because there was little-to-no documentation available about the app, the People Tech team immediately started observing and analyzing app and infrastructure usage. In-person interviews with the client’s technical team were also conducted. The discoveries were presented in a full-day joint planning session with the client. Additionally, they discussed the client’s challenges and introduced which technologies could address the desired business outcomes.
Three-phase project with future opportunities
After nearly nine months of planning and consulting, People Tech proposed a three-phase project to minimize app downtime and business risk.
The first phase, slated to be finished in early 2018, involves porting the application over to Linux OS, implementing a containerization strategy, adopting Cisco AppDynamics for increased infrastructure insight, and migrating parts of the app to the cloud. At the end of the first phase, the client anticipates better visibility into the infrastructure, lower maintenance costs, reduced data center footprint, and accelerated innovation.
Client:
Creating actionable digital strategies to increase opportunities
Reseller/Partner:
IGNW
Process/Results:
Shifting the Sales Conversation from IT to Business
Cisco Digital Solutions Integrator (DSI) IGNW helps Cisco and partners be more relevant in pervasive automation, DevOps, and hybrid IT by changing the client conversation from one that’s technology focused to one that emphasizes the value of those technologies and how they drive business objectives.
By focusing on business outcomes, IGNW helps expand partners’ reach into new areas and uncover bigger opportunities. IGNW accomplishes this by including additional Cisco products, software, and services that harness the differentiation of Cisco engineering combined with the flexibility of contemporary, open-source toolsets, such as Docker, Kubernetes, HashiCorp, Puppet, Ansible, Jenkins, and the pervasiveness of public cloud PaaS/IaaS providers.
Fact:
IGNW provides solutions for the healthcare, tech, manufacturing, and state and local government verticals
Cisco and partner revenue: More than $12 million. IGNW has influenced Cisco and partner digital opportunities valued at more than $12 million.
Creating an Actionable Digital Strategy
Businesses today require a digital strategy to achieve their most important objectives. IGNW enables partners and clients to create that strategy and make it actionable to achieve their technical, operational, and financial outcomes in both hybrid IT and DevOps. IGNW demonstrates these outcomes by utilizing its full stack automation, orchestration, and DevOps practices, and incorporating Cisco software and solutions into the continuous integration and delivery pipeline and hybrid IT strategy.
Showing clients how Cisco technologies enable digital strategies is key to success and can result in net-new or increased opportunities for Cisco and Cisco partners.
The Cisco Solutions IGNW Helps Influence and Implement as Part of a Digital Strategy
- Cisco ACI
- Cisco APIC/APIC-EM
- Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Switches/DNA
- Cisco Tetration
- Cisco CloudCenter
- Cisco/Viptela
- Cisco cloud security portfolio
- Cisco Umbrella/OpenDNS
- Cisco UCS Director
- Cisco AppDynamics
- Cisco Spark
- Cisco Meraki
- Cisco UCS Converged Infrastructure and HyperFlex
- Docker Enterprise Edition on Cisco UCS
Opportunities IGNW has Influenced to Date
- $750K Cisco ACI deal sold to large manufacturing company with global Cisco VAR
- $1M+ Cisco ACI deal in play at large healthcare organization with national Cisco VAR
- $300K Cisco CloudCenter deal in play at large electric utility with Cisco national partner
- $1M+ Cisco ACI influence at large electric utility national with Cisco partner
- Cisco Tetration demonstrations and pilots included as part of the DSI workshop sales motion
- Cisco HyperFlex pilots as part of the DSI workshop sales motion
- Cisco APIC-EM adoption and API integrations with other contemporary tools for a university to enable advanced automations with national Cisco partner
- Custom software solution to integrate Cisco UCS Blade and UCS standalone into open-source network management toolset
- Custom Cisco Unified Communications and Spark automation for large manufacturer
- Dev/Ops workshop integrating Cisco tools into CI/CD pipeline at a large university with national Cisco partner
Client:
Data visualization software provider
Reseller/Partner:
IGNW develops software adapter to displace competitor hardware
Process/Results:
Compatibility alters client’s first choice
When this global software provider examined its options for new servers, Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) was the preferred choice. After all, there was a lot to like about Cisco UCS performance and the lower cost per workload. This was a major win for the Cisco account team in what was previously a Dell environment.
Fact:
More than 70,000 global customer accounts
Cisco revenue: 2.6 million
However, during the first phase of implementation, a technical issue threatened to derail the entire deal.
The client had chosen Zabbix for its network and IT monitoring solution—and Zabbix did not support Cisco UCS. Altering this monitoring strategy was non-negotiable. Dell quickly took advantage of the incompatibility to re-establish its position with the client.
Leveraging the DSI Program and one of its partners
The Cisco account team wasn’t about to let the client live with a lesser server solution. They reached out to the Cisco DSI Program team to explore ways to address the technical issue. IGNW was identified as the best candidate.
IGNW, with its lengthy history of solving complex IT challenges, proposed developing a custom Zabbix software adapter that integrated with Cisco UCS Manager and Cisco UCS Director. The client would retain full management functionality of Zabbix, and still gain all the technical and performance advantages of Cisco UCS. Development funding from the Cisco DSI Program helped ensure the project and ultimately secure the server business.
Deepening the client relationship
Shortly after deploying the adapter, the client asked IGNW and Cisco to conduct a Programmability Workshop to help them optimize their Cisco networking and voice solutions. In four days of collaborating with 14 of the client’s engineers, Cisco and IGNW helped shore up the IT automation strategy and showed them how to gain more from their solutions by altering how they consumed Cisco Open APIs.
Through the deeper engagement with the client’s IT team, new opportunities were soon uncovered, such as adding custom features and capabilities to voice and collaboration solutions. Other projects now in discussion will further expand the Cisco footprint across the client’s enterprise.
Today, the Cisco team is working with IGNW to replicate this win at other accounts. The Cisco team frequently invites IGNW to meet with clients facing similar technical hurdles or customization needs.