RG Solutions® fully integrates the technical Capacity Management information of systems along with the business expenditures associated with those systems. The net result is the ability to fully understand your service delivery by knowing who, what, where, and when – in technical and monetary terms!
With long roots in Capacity Management, RG Solutions® evolved in a direction different from other vendors. While the other vendors moved “down-stream” in an effort to provide more information for operations through better and improved monitors, RG Solutions® moved “up-stream” towards the IT and Business Management. The intent was to provide information so better and more informed decisions could be made during the IT Governance process. Monitors are effective for reacting to situations, but they are not effective for governance decision making.
One issue in the RG Solutions® evolution was the ability to express technical information in terms that the business management can understand. This is something they have wanted for more than twenty years. In order for them to really understand IT, the IT processes had to be “exposed” to them in business and monetary terms. With RG Solutions®, they now have this ability.
You may argue that business management is already getting this information from other sources. You would be partially correct, because they are only getting part of the data they need for the total governance process. Currently the most focused part of the governance process is the decisions and processes that lead up to the implementation of a solution. There are programs, metrics, and other means available to assess and measure these cost expenditures.
But what happens after the solution is implemented? Generally speaking this part of the governance process falls “under the radar” – even though this part of IT represents the majority of on-going IT expenses. How is this possible? There are several reasons such as it is mundane or that it does not need to be looked at, but the real reason is there are not many processes or products available to measure and deliver the necessary information – let alone in monetary terms.
This simplified design of RG Solutions® allows for a low cost solution that will not only leverage your technical staff, but provide the missing information needed for effective IT Governance.
Evolution
RG Solutions® is not a single use product, but rather one that can be used for a wide range of uses. As stated, its roots are in Capacity Management, but a lot has changed since its early versions. Initially it was designed to be a tool for skilled practitioners. As the ability to perform Capacity Management diminished (it was too time consuming and costly), RG Solutions® began to incorporate the practitioner’s skills allowing junior technical people to perform the required functions.
Further evolution of RG Solutions® was needed for the new frameworks (ITIL, SOA, etc.) that are being incorporated into the IT environment. For management frameworks like ITIL, it was necessary to incorporate business cost and structure that allow for more informed reporting and decision making.
For architectural frameworks like SOA (Software Oriented Architecture), it was necessary to establish a Costing Maturity Model that coordinates the costs associated with each layer of the SOA framework. The upper layer of the Costing Maturity Model is related to the Business Processes so this layer must include the “human labor cost” not related to IT processing. The net result is the ability to truly understand and “price” a Business Process.
The “up-stream” evolution gives RG Solutions® the ability to provide information that is needed for many different processes within the IT environment. It is truly one product with many uses.
IT Governance
RG Solutions® provides the information to understand Asset Conservancy (post implementation). In the IT Governance process, there are several issues that need to be considered for the on-going service delivery (conservancy) process: Fiscal, Demand, Strategic, Lifecycle, and Risk. All areas require input from the business side, but likewise they also need input from the IT side. RG Solutions® provides this information in a form that is useful for the IT Governors (both business and IT), and allows them to make informed decisions.
ITIL Service Management
ITIL Service Management has five major areas of focus: Strategy, Design, Transition, Operations, and Continuous Improvement. The IT group will generally focus on the first three areas as they are generally the most visible to Business Management. What most do not realize is that most IT cost is associated with the last two focus groups. RG Solutions® addresses the needs of these two neglected areas by provided cost and technical information for the six Key Performance Areas (KPAs) associated with them: Budget, Life Cycle, Business Activities, Functional Processing, Operational Processing, and Continuity.
Capacity Management
As stated, RG Solutions® is rooted in Capacity Management and has never strayed from those roots. The only difference is that instead of being a tool for the expert, it has become the expert by incorporating the skills of the practitioner into its processing. It can leverage even the junior technician, and will put Capacity Management back into the vocabulary of IT.
Chargeback / Showback
Many think that Chargeback / Showback systems are the same as costing systems, and they are wrong. For a traditional Chargeback / Showback system, the purpose is to recover the annual IT budget from those that use the IT resources. There are several problems with this. As result, users generally do not readily accept the use of Chargeback / Showback systems. In contrast, RG Solutions® uses a Costing Model for measuring the costs associated with the system processing. The model is based on a Total Cost of Ownership calculation that results in a fair and unbiased allocation of costs to processes, activities, and/or users. As a result, RG Solutions® can provide a Chargeback / Showback system that is more acceptable to users. (Users never really want any type of Chargeback / Showback system).
Metering
The decision to use Capacity on Demand (Metering) may be the easiest part of the decision. For metering, vendors have declared that Capacity Management is no longer required as you can have the processing capability when you need it. This may be true, but remember you are paying for it! With a Metering system the management of usage becomes business critical. Usage amounts must be monitored, audited, and evaluated to ensure that contracted amounts will last for the duration of the contract. RG Solutions® not only understands Metering, but has incorporated a Metering model for all of its processing.
