Platform Rationalization Reduce IT cost and complexity

What does your It budget look lIke? Everyone is talking IT budget these days. Would you be surprised to find out that on average, companies spend roughly 70 percent of IT budgets on maintenance and operations, with just about 30 percent going to new projects?

For more information about consulting and support offerings from

Microsoft, contact your Microsoft Services representative or visit

www.microsoft.com/services.

DiScoveR How Agile YouR coMPAnY cAn Be

ForgET CosT CEnTEr. Try BusInEss EnaBlEr on For sIzE.

By slimming down the iT environment throughconsolidation and judicious retirement of legacysystems, you will make iT leaner, more manageable, and better able to support critical business goals. Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization details which consolidation and migration efforts will have the greatest impact on your organization, helping transform your iT department from a cost center into a critical business enabler.

DEmonsTraTE sTEWarDshIp In a TImE oF CosT CuTTIng

“Business as usual” seldom works during economic downturns. Business leaders everywhere are considering their options for making the most of available resources. Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization is a wise investment that demonstrates commitment to financial responsibility and business value on the part of the iT organization. Furthermore, the Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization engagement facilitates communication within the iT organization so that resources are used most appropriately.

Work DIrECTly WITh ThE pEoplE Who knoW mICrosoFT BEsT

no one knows Microsoft products and technology better than Microsoft. Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization provides you with the best advice and insight for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft products and technology. Highly trained Microsoft Services architecture and planning advisors match that technical knowledge with the cumulative experience of hundreds of engagements worldwide. The result is a proven approach to platform rationalization that uses patented intellectual property and draws on unique insight into the Microsoft technology road map.

BuIlD on ThE laTEsT ExpErTIsE From mICrosoFT sErvICEs anD WaTCh WhErE your BusInEss WIll go

over the course of six to eight weeks, you will work directly with an architecture and planning advisor to determine how your iT environment can be rationalized to better meet the needs of your business. To augment his or her expertise, the advisor has access to a range of other expert Microsoft resources on an as-needed basis. This way, you get a full range of expertise without incurring the expense of a whole cadre of consultants.

ThE assEssmEnT

Based on interviews with key stakeholders and athorough understanding of your business and iT,your architecture and planning advisor will provide an assessment of your iT environment that includes:

• IT service-level expectation gap analysis• Architecture assessment• Business alignment prioritization• IT asset portfolio management recommendations

a CusTomIzED roaD map

Building on the assessment, Microsoft Services will create a platform rationalization road map tailored to your organization’s specific needs. This road map will lay out a range of options with clear links to cost, time, and value—everything you need to present a strong business case for platform rationalization.

The road map will make recommendations on the role of systems integrators and beneficial Microsoft Services offerings enabling platform rationalization and may include options for any of the following:

• Consolidation• Standardization• Centralization• Virtualization• Security improvements• Process optimization• Shared services• Legacy application and mainframe migrations

Discover Technology Solutions That can Keep up with the Twists and Turns of Business

movE your BusInEss ForWarD WITh mICrosoFT sErvICEs it’s no question that bringing new products and services to market is crucial to helping a business gain a competitive edge. But with deflating budgets and increasingly complex IT environments, finding time to innovate, let alone keep IT initiatives in line with business strategies, can be difficult. Organizations that have grown rapidly in the past several years may not have had the time or opportunity to take stock of their iT portfolio and match ongoing efforts to the real needs of the business. Fortunately, there is a solution.

Through platform rationalization, you can cut costs and redirect iT spending from maintenance and operations by judiciously reconstituting your iT environment so that it has fewer moving parts, is more manageable, and is more responsive to business needs. More than ever, now is the perfect time to get your iT environment in shape, removing unnecessary cost and complexity and laying the groundwork for future business growth.

if Microsoft® products and technologies are vital to your strategy, Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization can free your team to build on the success of your business. Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization will provide your team with the direct expertise of an architecture and planning advisor backed by the teams who develop the software you and your people use every day.