Federal agencies need to modernize their technology infrastructures, but few have access to the capital expenditure funding at the levels needed to support the upfront costs it requires — even if such a move would save money in the long run.
Many see the need to shift to an on-demand approach to buying IT resources. Commercial cloud offerings lean in this direction, but with the ever-increasing demand for data, many in government have seen their cloud expenditures skyrocket. At the same time, unpredictable demand makes it difficult — if not impossible — to budget effectively for cloud usage.
Agencies can look to an on-premises compute and storage deployment, with resources delivered in an as-a-service consumption model, as a means to pay for only the resources they need.
This solution has all the scalability and ease of use inherent in the cloud, but with greater fiscal predictability and less need for intensive IT management, said Thomas Tocco, Director of Dell Financial Services — Federal.
Adapt on Demand
In an on-demand consumption model, the vendor inherently over-provisions the IT infrastructure without any upfront cost to government. The agency pays for a “committed capacity” — the resources it expects to use in a given period. If the need changes, “buffer capacity” is built in and readily available at a predetermined rate. Moreover, that expense is capped at 85% of capacity, regardless of how much you use.
This model delivers simplified and predictable pricing. “You know upfront what it will cost, it’s a mutually agreed upon number that you commit to,” Tocco said. “There are no hidden fees, no additional fees. And with the cap at 85%, you know what your maximum spend will be.”
It also gives agencies a cost-effective means to adjust resources to meet the needs driven by episodic or seasonal spikes. If they consistently go beyond their committed capacity, the vendor will adjust accordingly, and automatically lower the rate.
At a time when the IT supply chain has been unpredictable, agencies have struggled to keep IT current. A vendor-supported consumption model empowers IT leaders to have strategic planning conversations, to ensure they are not caught short as new needs arise, Tocco said.
Proven Solutions
Dell APEX Custom Flex on Demand delivers Dell’s well-established capabilities in an on-premises, as-aservice model. Customers have seen the benefits.
“With APEX Custom Flex on Demand, there’s 20% lower average cost of storage operations per year, 92% faster time to deploy new storage capacity and 54% fewer incidents of unplanned downtime,” Tocco said.
Dell has a long history of delivering IT resources as a service, having delivered several billion dollars’ worth of consumption-based programs to its customers. “We’ve listened to what our customers need and based on that, we continue to grow and enhance our program,” Tocco said.
This article appears in our guide, “Agency of the Future: How New Possibilities are Emerging in the Present.” To read more about how agencies are anticipating future needs, download it here.
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