IBM kondigt vandaag aan dat zij met IBM Workplace on Demand de beheerskosten van personal devices verlaagt. Dit is een belangrijk initiatief om klanten te helpen bij een kostenreductie die kan oplopen tot 30 procent. Het beheren van printers, PC´s en PDA´s binnen ondernemingen kost tegenwoordig twee tot vijf maal meer dan de aanschafkosten. Voor veel organisaties is de laatste grote onderhoudscyclus rond de millenniumwisseling geweest. Bovendien weten veel ondernemingen niet dat de totale kosten van bijvoorbeeld printactiviteiten slechts voor 30 procent uit het daadwerkelijke printen bestaan en voor 70 procent uit het proces er omheen. Met IBM Workplace on Demand kunnen de beheerskosten worden verlaagd.
Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met:
IBM
Etta Pouw
Tel: 020 513 4228
Onderstaand treft u het originele Engelstalige persbericht aan.
IBM TARGETS RISING COSTS OF MANAGING PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY DEVICES
Ripe Opportunity to Slash "Hidden" Costs of Proliferating Printers, PCs, PDAs and Peripherals
ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 4, 2003 --- IBM today announced IBM WorkPlace on demand services, a major initiative designed to help customers significantly reduce the costs of managing their personal technology by up to 30 percent, including PCs, printers, copiers, fax machines and mobile devices.
IBM is aggressively targeting the growing market opportunity to help customers take costs out of their personal technology, or "desktop" environments, which have become less efficient as the number of personal technology devices has exponentially grown. While other companies have been catching up on outsourcing of back-end systems, IBM has developed new cost-reducing technologies that focus on front-end systems -- PCs, printers and other devices -- as the next ripe opportunity for cost removal.
With these new services, IBM -- making a serious bid to change how customers consume and buy personal technology -- is applying the same expertise that made it possible for the company to successfully take out costs from the back-end of IT systems for thousands of customers. IBM believes the front-end of IT systems is the next frontier for significantly reducing technology costs.
IBM's WorkPlace on demand services offers businesses a new way to acquire, maintain and account for the technology their employees touch -- as a service offering on one monthly bill -- alleviating the headaches and unpredictable costs of maintaining separate fleets of printers, PCs, fax machines, copiers, and mobile devices. By providing these services under one monthly bill, customers only pay and account for whatever technology services they use, allowing them to save up to 30 percent of their maintenance costs. IBM also offers customers the flexibility to have IBM handle the management and maintenance of non-IBM hardware, as one complete, variably-priced service package.
Today many PCs, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines and other peripherals are frequently purchased, deployed and managed in a scattered, ad-hoc manner. The cost to maintain separate fleets of printers, PCs, mobile devices and other peripherals is staggering. Industry analyst firm Meta Group estimates that maintenance and operations for a company's end-user environment can account for 80 percent of IT costs. For example, according, the average desktop PC maintenance costs a business between $2,000 and $5,000 per PC, per year, per person. IBM has recently introduced ThinkVantage Technologies specifically designed to address these cost issues.
Additionally, the total cost of printing is unknown for most enterprises.
Industry researcher Gartner estimates that companies may spend an average of one to three percent of their revenue on output, making it one of the most over-looked and undermanaged assets of their front-end systems.
"The cost of a PC, a printer, a copier or even a mobile device may seem deceptively inexpensive but what many people don't realize, the cost does not stop at the price tag, said Tony Martinez, vice president, strategic outsourcing, IBM Global Services. "The hidden cost lies in the maintenance and operations of these devices; Printer consumables and ongoing device maintenance run from two to five times the cost of the devices themselves.
Companies -- not having been given any means to reduce the hidden cost of printing consumables and client device management -- try to manage these costs in an ad-hoc manner, often creating chaos on the balance sheet and with the IT staff."
To solve some of the industry's biggest and more complex IT issues, IBM has pioneered unique solutions such as web services, grid and autonomic computing, ThinkVantage Technologies and on-demand business transformation.
IBM's WorkPlace on demand services incorporates many of these technologies, best practices and business rules for running the larger IT infrastructure -- management, deployment, provisioning and help desk -- and applies them to the personal technology infrastructure.
IBM currently oversees and manages maintenance and operations for more than
4.2 million pcs and printers. Companies turn to IBM to deploy and manage various aspects of their personal technology including: the hardware, software image, help desk support --a substantial cost item that has increased with recent onslaughts of worms and viruses -- and finance the solution, that helps to remove the complexity and cost uncertainty from client device management.
"In today's cost -conscious business climate, it is shocking that the cost to support and maintain front-end devices has gone largely unaccounted for by many companies," said Dev Mukherjee, vice president, marketing and strategy e-business on demand, IBM Global Services. "With the proliferation of personal devices resulting in rising costs, no major player has stepped up to offer a way to address how companies can reduce these out of control costs. IBM's WorkPlace on demand services is our bid to drive a huge shift in how technology is being delivered and consumed -- on a pay as you go basis to allow companies to purchase and account for the technology they consume."
IBM WorkPlace on demand services include:
IBM Client Advantage Services: IBM ThinkPad notebooks, IBM ThinkCentre Desktops, IBM Printers and help desk services, priced at a fixed monthly rate per user as part of an IBM Global Financing three-year financing package. IBM ThinkVantage Technologies such as ImageUltra and Rapid Restore Ultra simplify maintenance and user support, cutting overall costs of ownership. IBM help desk support is provided through IBM Virtual Help Desk (electronic Web-based) and IBM End User Support Services. Deskside support by knowledgeable technicians perform hardware, software and network diagnostics that is delivered at the customer's desk.
IBM Output Management Services: Consolidation of all printing and output devices, while decreasing the size and number of on-site copy centers to significantly reduce the cost of printing, copying, scanning and faxing -- a previously unquantified cost. Through the outsourcing of these devices, IBM manages the output from copiers, scanners, faxes, and printers, including design and implementation services, with variable price-per-page billing.
IBM Consulting & Implementation Services: Companies receive customized consulting services as well as the customized systems to manage their end-user infrastructure. Specifically included are online order entry systems for IBM ordering, tracking and approval, asset reporting on deployment with customized Web-based updates, IBM Project Management to manage objectives and monitor costs, and consolidated billing to simplify financial management of PC expenses.
IBM Wireless & Mobility Services: Companies can meet the universal access needs of all workers anywhere, anytime; IBM help customers extend computing to new devices using an infrastructure built on a foundation of open, integrated and scalable technologies to provide intelligent access to the enterprise.
IBM's Workplace on demand services offering is currently available for North American customers with worldwide offices today.
IBM Global Services is the world's largest information technology services and consulting provider, generating over $36 billion in 2002. Approximately 180,000 professionals serve customers in over 160 countries, providing the entire spectrum of customers' e-business needs -- from the business transformation and industry expertise of IBM Business Consulting Services to hosting, infrastructure, technology design and training services. IBM Global Services delivers integrated, flexible and resilient processes -- across companies and through business partners -- that enable customers to maximize the opportunities of an on-demand business environment. For more information, visit: www.ibm.com/services.