One need not always partner with a big name in the industry.  Having dedicated manpower to understand a company’s unique needs can go a long way in making sensible implementations

The operations of Bangalore-based Cambridge Solutions involves providing business process management solutions in the field of Insurance, Healthcare and Financial services, besides specialized services in Process Consulting and Project Management. The in-house expertise of Cambridge includes a select team of experienced professionals.

The biggest challenge for Cambridge was to sign on an IT support partner, who could pro-actively manage critical assets, which would consequently help the company focus on their core business objectives. The objective incidentally outlined was to ensure a 90% match of the company’s SLA’s, in addition to continual and real time improvement in business process. Netsol chose to undertake this challenge and put forth two separate teams -- one that focused on understanding systems and infrastructure and the second one which focused on understanding the company’s ITIL process and aimed to make improvements in conjunction with them.
From day one, Cambridge insisted that it needed a deployment architecture where the IT infrastructure had to be up in a way that it doesn’t interfere with the day-to-day business. In other words, the technicians could concentrate on their core business, leaving IT to the partner. Netsol  thus had to deviate a little from its regular mode of functioning and offered new perspective to the IT infrastructure management that took care of the complexity of managing the assets. An integration of desktop, network, system application, data center, back-up, storage, helpdesk, vendor management and structured cabling was carried out in a phased manner resulting in the streamlining of processes. The first phase involved the transition of servers that included active directory, exchange, intranet, voice, call recording, file server, back up server etc after which  transition of the network was carried out. Now the entire network could be effectively managed, and in the later stages, Cambridge’s biggest apprehension of turnaround time and the SLA’s, were taken care of.
Furthermore, the process development team that worked in close association with the company and in parallel with the transition team successfully employed the `business as usual’ model of working. At a later stage, process improvements were outlined and these enhancements were absorbed by Cambridge. Three months into the contract and Cambridge admits that the consistent weekly report justifies the documentation and enhances the knowledge base of the company, ensuring easy monitoring and management of the key metrics such as availability and performance.

"The IT implementations and solutions at our premises were carried out in such a way that we were equipped to take on future expansion plans of the company. After the first round of implementations in Bangalore, the company has extended the relationship with Netsol to its  other centers based in Chennai.  Along with the responsibility of the management of the IT infrastructure, we got a complete audit of the network using the network analyzer, which was bundled  free of charge for the first year, eliminating the need for Cambridge to approach an external vendor, thereby translating into cost savings for the company.  The other area the company was able to optimize its investments was training. Management of entire IT infrastructure by Netsol made the cost redundant,  the company would otherwise incur on training, retraining and retention of its employees. Lastly, the company was able to deploy the resources initially engaged with the management of the IT infrastructure on the other IT projects of the company."
— Nagesh Vithal Vaze
Senior Manager Information Systems,
Cambridge Integrated Services India

Vishnu Anand