IBM - SONC Ordering Process

State of North Carolina / IBM "Seat Management" Ordering Process

Request for Information

Initial requests for information or services included in the North Carolina / IBM Seat Management Contract can be placed by contacting the individuals below.

Rob Davison	Trainel Christian
Sales Specialist	Regional Manager
IBM Global Services	IBM Global Services
robdavis@us.ibm.com	tchristi@us.ibm.com
(919) 871-6151	(404) 238-3228

Next Steps; What to Expect

Once you have made this initial request, IBM will schedule a meeting with the Agency Contact to discuss that agency's individual requirements and assist in determining what service level best meets those requirements.

Bronze	Entry Level Offering: Project Management, Single Point of Contact Help Desk for end user support including break-fix coordination, Installs, Moves, Adds, & Changes, and Asset Reporting.
Silver	Everything Bronze offers plus Electronic Software Distribution.
Gold	Everything Bronze offers plus Server based services that consist of Customer User ID Administration, Server Operating System Support/Management, Server Monitoring & Operations, External Disk Administration, Server Backup and Recovery.
Platinum	Platinum is Gold and Silver combined.

Based on the information gathered, a requirements and gap analysis will be conducted. Hardware and service levels will be reviewed to determine the most efficient and responsive way to meet the Agency's needs. These findings will then be reviewed with the Agency. When the solution is agreed upon it will be incorporated into a work order for agency acceptance. A purchase order is issued, and implementation planning will begin.

Deployment Planning

Deployment Planning is provided by the IBM Project Management Office (PMO) and will support the Life Cycle Implementation. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who will be dedicated to the State of North Carolina account will staff the PMO. These SMEs will be experts on the Distributed Computing Services (DCS) environment for the State of North Carolina.

To successfully implement the described scenario in 100 North Carolina Counties, the IBM PMO will function as the single point of contact for the agency and will be responsible for deployment planning activities. After the completion of the Business Need and Technology Planning Phase, the resulting technical requirements must be validated by a "due diligence" activity. The resulting diligence activity will identify physical locations, associated site readiness requirements, end user requirements for servers and workstations (low, mid and high end), desired levels of service (Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum), logistical requirements, and scheduling requirements.

Site-specific deployment planning information will be analyzed and a "gap analysis" will be identified. The IBM PMO will work with the State of North Carolina agency requiring the Life Cycle service and assign appropriate roles and responsibilities. During this phase of the planning, the IBM Help Desk will be engaged for asset tracking, configuration control, event/alert monitoring and electronic software distribution. IBM expects all activities to be highly collaborative and we anticipate working with multiple suppliers and agencies to create an "end to end" implementation plan.

Transition

Upon completion of site readiness items, server and workstation hardware, software images and IBM and OEM equipment must be selected and availability of equipment for the deployment will be confirmed. Tentative schedules and project plans will be created and reviewed with the specific agency and with Information Technology Services (ITS), http://www.its.state.nc.us, for acceptance/approval. Upon approval, servers and workstation platforms are ordered and IBM technical resources are assigned for installation activities.

Transition (i.e. implementation services) is an I/T re-engineering process in which the State and IBM will work together to move the State's existing environment to an IBM distributed computing service delivery organization. The transition process begins when the State and IBM agree and contract for distributed computing services. The process is considered complete once standard distributed computing tools and delivery methodologies have been deployed to all in-scope State of North Carolina sites. Transition involves gathering site information, developing processes, determining baselines, designing and implementing the support structure to deliver the services. An IBM distributed computing service delivery organization assumes responsibility for "business as usual" support of your technology environment and provides the infrastructure necessary to provide remote user problem resolution, standardized service delivery, and production readiness assistance. This allows the State of North Carolina to focus on standardizing its technology environment.

Transition has three major objectives:

	Stabilize, standardize, and improve the support infrastructure
	Deploy IBM's distributed computing technology, processes, and procedures
	Implement proactive problem and change management processes

Together, the State and IBM will work to execute these objectives with minimal disruption to your business activity, effective communication with you and your users, and rapid upgrades to technology infrastructure.