SunGard Availability Services releases economic justification tools

SunGard Availability Services has introduced new assessment tools to assist companies in deciding what information availability and business continuity solutions are best for them.

A benchmarking tool provides companies with a benchmark for their industry’s IT costs, and a total cost of ownership (TCO) tool helps companies to compare the cost of an in-house solution with that of outsourcing to a third party provider.

Both tools were developed by Nucleus Research, a Wellesley, Mass.-based research firm providing advisory services for technology related investments.

SunGard defines information availability as a company’s ability to always keep its employees and its mission-critical information connected—no matter what.

“When most companies begin the planning process to assess their information availability needs, they don’t have a realistic idea of the costs associated with an in-house program versus hiring an outside resource,” said David Palermo, vice president of marketing, SunGard Availability Services. “The benchmarking and TCO tools produced by Nucleus will help provide companies with a substantial amount of comparative information helping them to make a sound business decision.”

The benchmarking and TCO tools are SunGard Availability Services’ first economic justification tools, and are designed to address direct and indirect costs and benefits associated with a managed solution from SunGard. The benchmarking tool is Microsoft Excel-based and contains data centre-related cost drivers and percentages based on industry averages.  There is industry-specific data for three industries: finance, manufacturing and business services, and one category for other industries.

The TCO tool is also Microsoft Excel-based, but is much more intensive as it helps users to closely scrutinise the cost of their data centre operations.  As a result, two cost quotes are produced: the estimated cost if a company builds its information availability solution in-house, and an estimated cost if it outsources.

•Date: 28th April 2005 • Region: N.America •Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
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