IT Migration Makes Company More Competitive

By SamuelGreengard

Managinginformation technology is an enormous challenge for any geographicallydispersed organization. There are enterprise systems to oversee, collaborationtools to manage and myriad technologies to integrate.

However, feworganizations face the challenges of Diversified Agency Services (DAS), a NewYork City-based holding company that operates more than 100 advertising,marketing and specialty communications firms across 700 offices in 71countries. In March, the company, a division of Omnicom Group, began an18-month migration of business-critical data to three state-of-the-art datacenters in Atlanta, Phoenix and London.

"Therewas a need to create a consistent IT architecture so the company could improveperformance and reduce costs," says Jason Cohen, global CIO. "We hadto get out in front of the technology in order to deliver services to ourclients based on the new digital world that has taken root."

It’s no smalltask, particularly for a firm that claims more than 95 percent of the Fortune500 as its clients. In the past, Cohen notes, offices often operated entirelydifferent systems and used their own software. Some had data rooms, some haddata closets and some simply tossed servers wherever they would fit.

This createda chaotic and complex IT environment with varying levels of efficiency andeffectiveness. "It was extremely challenging to manage all the processesand create standards that matched the organization’s goals," he explains.

Cohen andhis colleagues engaged in a full-scale review of the offices and the equipmenteach facility was using. They found some companies that were usingsophisticated on-premises systems, while others were relying on a sharedprofessional services model. Cloaked beneath the practical challenges was aninability to connect and collaborate across offices and IT systems.

The teamexamined more than 150 items, including bandwidth, latency, capacityrequirements, user requirements and database systems. "We looked at whatwe had and what we would need in the future," he says.

The resultwas a three-year plan that revolved around the use of the three data centers.In addition to the focus on technology?and on improving service and supportresponse times?DAS committed to building a green IT environment. In the end,the firm turned to Hewlett-Packard to manage its servers, storage andnetworking requirements. Altogether, 38 engineers, 11 consultants and 12project managers collaborated to design the new IT platform.

Among otherthings, the result is a consolidation of 2,797 applications and an ability toprovide improved IT services and support. DAS is using server virtualizationand plans to incorporate desktop virtualization in the coming months. It alsohopes to provide a cloud-based service delivery model in the near future.

Finally, DAShas unleashed a formidable mobility program and embraced the burgeoning bring-your-own-device (BYOD)movement. As DAS gets the data centers and systems online, it rolls them out toits offices.

"Migratingand consolidating systems and data are huge challenges, but it will make DAS amore streamlined, efficient and competitive organization,? Cohen concludes. ?Thetechnology will allow us to use 21st century technology to promoteentrepreneurial behavior and improved interactions with clients."