Network Services Plus, Inc Moves to Automation

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Network Services Plus, Inc. (NSPI) is a leading provider of technology services. Through well-thought out strategies, NSPI identifies solutions that support business initiatives and optimizes technology investments to deliver results to its customers. With more than 22 years of experience in the industry, NSPI offers customers a portfolio of proven technology solutions, 24/7/365 managed support services, SAS 70 Type II certified data centers, and industry-certified expertise.

NSPI needed an automated systems management software solution to efficiently deliver services to customers, manage multi-platforms, provide 24/7 monitoring without the need for staff on-site, and automate hardware and software management.

Prior to purchasing Halcyon’s systems management software, NSPI was using a solution developed by a leading U.S. technology vendor. NSPI was disappointed with the software because it did not consistently monitor the applications, it was not scalable over multiple environments, and it lacked high-quality technical support.

Visibility and Reliability

After reviewing a variety of technology solutions, NSPI chose to purchase Halcyon’s Systems Operations Suite (Level 2) and Advanced Job Scheduler to use within its data center. Halcyon’s Systems Operations Suite provides comprehensive real-time automation of systems assurance, security auditing, and alerting for IBM i, while the Advanced Job Scheduler is a flexible and highly functional job scheduling solution that is ideal for cross-platform scheduling between IBM i and Windows-based applications. Additionally, NSPI also resells Halcyon’s entire suite of software solutions to many of its customers.

NSPI was especially interested in Halcyon’s Enterprise Console graphical user interface (GUI), which provides a centralized dashboard view of the entire infrastructure to identify different servers and alerts. This feature enables NSPI to efficiently manage their high-level management reporting.

“Enterprise Console allows us to obtain a single graphical view of all systems within our data center as well as remote systems at customer locations,” said Tom McLendon, Senior iSeries Engineer, NSPI. “We have the console up in our Network Operations Center at all times. Additionally, we are told by our customers that they utilize this feature on a continuous basis as well. Not only does it provide us with a real-time view of the system, it also offers us all peace of mind that the system is doing its job.”

IBM i is different from other systems currently on the market; without intimate knowledge of the system it is difficult to use. By using the Halcyon Enterprise Console, NSPI’s support staff is able to manage system alerts with minimal training.

NSPI was also very interested in the automation Halcyon’s software provides since it allows the system to quickly respond to any conditions that arise. In addition, Halcyon’s system provides reliability, which is a critical component of the NSPI data center.

Streamlined Operations and Added Business

The implementation of the Halcyon solution took four months for evaluation, testing, and implementation. However, the deployment of the software for actual customer monitoring took only two weeks.

“Halcyon’s support is excellent," added McLendon. "They provided us with flexible training options which made the installation of the software quick and seamless. We worked with them on-site and via telephone, which has allowed the installation of our solutions to be a complete success."

Halcyon’s solutions have allowed NSPI to streamline its operations and better utilize staff. Administrators respond to alerts while senior management is able to control costs and drive business with customers and prospects. NSPI has also been able to take on new customers because their system is consistently reliable and automated.

“By using Halcyon’s solutions, we have been able to improve the quality of managed outsourced services for our customers while controlling costs,” noted Ted M. Pound, Technical Operations Senior Manager at NSPI. “Halcyon’s solutions reduce the complexity of managing our vital business systems while allowing us to feel extremely confident that our center is running at maximum capacity at all times.”

McLendon continued, "Providing high-quality managed support services for our IBM i customers is vital to our business. Halcyon is a great company to work with. They were very flexible to our needs and they work closely with us to make sure our software works appropriately.”