FAQ about solution centers - how big companies in Russia choose software so as not to step on a rake

Small business takes a demo and puts to watch. The average business goes to the neighbors and consults, looks, and then implements it. A big business cannot do this, because ERP software cannot simply be taken and tried (it can take 2 months for one test organization), neighbors can only see general principles, and the distribution kit and license cannot be easily obtained.

Since it’s very difficult to understand how to do something at this level (after all, you need to have a couple of years of extremely rare experience), and the options are usually not one, problems begin. As a result, you may get a vague technical project , which is put up for tender. And the tender is won "for two pennies" by someone who will do everything, as it was in the task - but at the same time it is not at all what the business wanted. I think how this happens, no need to explain.

Therefore, special decision centers are needed - a kind of test sites. There you can look at one business day of an abstract company from the position of users from different departments, the administrator, and so on, using the already completed test databases and simulated infrastructure.
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What is this solution center for?
It's very simple: you can say a lot of words and promise anything. And you can just show. So that everyone can understand in detail what is possible, what is not, how problems are solved and where any surprises may be. In the case of software, the implementation of which can take from 4 to 12 months, this is very important. Nobody wants to first implement, and then understand what to do a lot of work or even migrate to another solution.

Why it is impossible to deploy a pilot project at the customer?
In my practice, there was a case where the customer chose a resource and project management system for 4 months from three options. Accordingly, specialists from one company came to them, watched, picked, deployed. IT specialists poked, studied, mastered and generally banished almost complete “beta” - then the cycle is repeated for the other two solutions. If you have so much free time and money - yes, this is a good option for a responsible choice.

How is it usually done?
Usually the customer knows exactly what he wants to solve. And it is enough for him to make sure that the system can do this in principle, there will be no rake in the process, plus all this is done not through one place, and maybe it will be “sharpened” for its specific business processes. Accordingly, at first there is just an inspection of the software solution, then a more detailed picking on the described tasks. After a day or two of tinkering and comments from our consultants, an understanding of how it all works and what can be done appears.

What does a solution center look like?
I work with HP Solution Center, therefore I will continue to tell on his example. Our center looks like a small room with a plasma, laptops and other things for presentation. All this is connected to the data center in the same building.





All this is equipped with connectors between each other, plus our modifications for different areas of activity - for example, modules for marketing campaigns, modules for the needs of retail, for manufacturing enterprises, and so on. For each sphere, a typical test database was established with several thousand records (simulating the real base of the company).

Why can I see everything so quickly in comparison with the test at home?
Because a full-fledged test project is not much different from a combat implementation — it is the transfer of data from databases, the construction of interactions, the writing-connecting of connectors, the completion of code, and so on. Each of these tasks takes weeks. In the center of solutions, as I said, everything is ready in advance on some abstract companies. Well, there is another reason - people.

These are engineers and IT-specialists who implement such solutions throughout the country in different companies. They have all the necessary certificates and real practical experience. Simply put, these are people who know in advance what rake can be stepped on and how much it can cost the company. And how everything is arranged for those who have already implemented something similar. Therefore, during the test work in the virtual infrastructure, they are near not only to be guides, but also to explain why and why. In each case. And such experience saves weeks or even months of work of the IT specialist of the customer.

And how is a technical task usually written?
The first option is google something similar and is being written “on the knee”. The result is predictable and deplorable. The best option is being added after the visit to the neighbors and long communication with their financial director and IT specialists. Better - those who stepped on a rake. The third option is after the decision center. In case there is no limit on the specifics of the requirements that are being measured, the technical assignment of the “do me well” level is usually obtained. Everyone understands what is “good” in his own way, and as a result, the performer does not do what the customer needed.

That is, you can understand in advance how, for example, the new software will be convenient to accompany?
Yes, and this, of course. Usually, it is necessary to develop cases, raise decisions, integrate them among themselves, consider how this will all be performed at the level of the solution architecture and at the level of cases and tasks. Prepare engineers. And each line consists of a dozen solutions, plus boxed integrations require serious refinement by a file. We need complex adjacent integration between the blocks - otherwise it will simply not be possible to check the solution of the most important tasks. Bundles between the blocks - a separate story. Someone is trying to do on their own, but the software is not the easiest. We need a very high qualification of specialists who customize it. The consolidated solution, the increasing effect of the introduction - it is difficult and difficult, so when you try to do it yourself, you often get such a strange bike on crutches. Pilot projects or demo deployments at the center of solutions eliminate most of these problems.

Ok, I found the solution I want to see on the HP Solution Center list. What's next?

1. You write about what you want and for what company. If the experts are not somewhere in Vladivostok on the combat deployment, we agree on a meeting.
2. At the meeting, you receive financial data and information about the functionality for evaluating the decision. In place, everything is shown on a practical case (on a test base).
3. If necessary - your IT-specialist picks on this case and in general the infrastructure of the solution center at least a day.
4. Then you more accurately understand whether it is suitable or not and send a bunch of questions and more detailed requirements.
5. In some cases, for tasks that cannot be assessed on typical test bases, a pilot solution is raised.

Who usually comes to the decision center?
In my practice - tops and IT-specialists. The management is interested in a look from the point of view of business values, they bring examples of cases and ask how it is solved. We are demonstrating. Then IT specialists remain and play with the test system like Russian men with a new chainsaw. Then everyone leaves to think, and after about a week, there are already those who will directly serve the decision in the future - and ask questions, evaluate. They give an assessment of their leaders, make happy moments. The decision on implementation is made.

Who else needs a solution center?

• Those who want to look at new software versions or related modules in work. As a rule, these are 80% of requests from existing customers: their specialists need to quickly and easily assess how much new releases are in demand.
• Evaluation of new products: when the software just came out, and really nothing is clear about it, and it solves the current problems, you have to go and watch. This is not the most frequent case, but the decision center becomes simply indispensable.
• When you need to test Big Data solutions, for example, there is simply no test area. You can view and evaluate on large data arrays.

What else is very important?
Since we have simulated the infrastructure of the company, it turns out the full coverage of the software. That is, we do not show pieces of the type “but if we had this at the entrance,” with a number of assumptions, but actually simulate the deployed software complex. That is, data from financial management is immediately displayed, for example, in other modules.

The coverage and complexity of the HP Solution Center is the largest in Russia. In addition, it was created in conjunction with the vendor. Not every integrator can afford several racks in the data center for such tasks, plus we need to put together a team that knows the software thoroughly and how companies in our country use it in practice. Well, plus license certificates and everything else.

What questions are most often addressed to the decision center?

IT planning

• IT process management
• IT asset management
• IT strategic planning tools

Support:

• Monitoring of AO servers, IHD and network infrastructure
• Monitoring OS and infrastructure services
• Business Application Performance Monitoring
• Centralized portal for monitoring IT infrastructure and application “health”
• Automation of server configuration management tasks
• Automate the tasks of managing network device configurations
• Automation of storage resource management tasks
• Automation of routine diagnostic processes
• Automate Integrated Management Workflows

Development:

• Self-service portal services class IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
• Creation and publication of IT services
• Managing the deployment of IT services
• Calculating the cost of consumption of IT services

Security:

• Intrusion Prevention System
• Reporting and monitoring system.
• Event collection systems and event storage.
• System analysis, correlation and alerts.

I was just looking for something like that, to whom to write?

I lead the HP Solution Center and the HP Solution Engineering Team. If you are interested in seeing specific software or solutions, write to VFeldchun@croc.ru . And, in general, this is HP SC - not the only decision center of CROC, so if anything, you can ask in other areas, I will give the contacts of the relevant colleague.