December 2008
BankWest’s Head of Vendor Management, Adrian Cowman believes in partnerships.
Cowman recently announced that BankWest has awarded IMC Communications a two-year Network Monitoring contract estimated at around $1M a year. Through its NetActive service, IMC will watch over more than 1200 network devices on a 24 x 7 x 365 basis. IMC will also provide professional services to support BankWest on ad hoc projects.
“A partner to us is a vendor that becomes so intimate with the workings of our organisation they can easily facilitate our requirements and become an extension of our organisation,” said Cowman.
This is the second consecutive time IMC Communications has been awarded this contract.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge is to provide consistently reliable service at all times of the day and night; for BankWest there is no room for error.
“IMC Communications needs to reliably provide this proactive, continuous validation that the environment is operating as intended. For us to outsource that role requires a proven track record; highly skilled and technically astute, committed people – and faultless service,” said Cowman.
CONTEMPLATING OUTSOURCING
A very strong sense of partnership is required to outsource such a significant responsibility as Network Monitoring to an outside supplier.
When deciding whether to outsource or not, Cowman says there are a few variables that need to be taken into consideration.
“You outsource because it is too hard to do, so you make it someone else’s problem, or, you run such a tight shop and have such mature processes that it makes sense to delegate a leg work to an outside party.”
“If you insource it either makes good economic and operational sense, or, your processes are such that they don’t support the outsourcing – making it too complex or scary to do so,” said Cowman.
THE SOLUTION
The strength of the partnership is indicated by the mutual benefits that go way beyond supply and demand.
BankWest benefits in its partnership with IMC by working with an organisation that understands and is motivated by their key challenges and business requirements. This means:
1. Providing reliable monitoring as one of their Network Management resources
2. Protecting BankWest’s data security
3. Protecting BankWest’s branding and reputation
4. Demonstrating flexibility by providing services that go beyond traditional network devices
Partnerships mean the difference between surviving and just thriving. For vital business processes such as Network Management and Monitoring, forming a partnership between companies – one based on mutual trust, understandings and wins, is ultimately the most effective and efficient way.
IMC provides NetActive Monitoring and Management to BankWest; this means that all of BankWest’s networks are watched at all times.
BENEFITS
• Informed decision making through at-a-glance visibility
• Incident prevention through proactive management and maintenance
• Faster incident resolution
• Reduced system downtime
• Direct access to senior expertise
• Reduced in-house & HR pressures
• Enhanced capacity planning through the collection and reporting of managed device statistics.
• Analysis and reduction of carriage costs
• Specially designed, tailored solutions
• Peace of Mind – your system is safe
