West Corporation Teams with MSI for a Centrally Managed, Single-Vendor Maintenance Solution

Acquisition. To an IT professional, this word usually translates to "maintenance contract nightmare." While acquisitions are quite common in today's business landscape, they often result in a complex mix of hardware and software assets from various manufacturers - each with their own unique maintenance terms - spawning unnecessary costs and headaches.

The Challenges

"MSI worked closely with us looking at the 'big picture' to provide a single enterprise solution to meet our maintenance needs." - Scott Hjermstad
VP, Enterprise Information Technology
West Corporation

West Corporation had acquired several companies with competitive hardware to merge with its IBM-only environment. Sorting through the jungle of new contracts required to maintain its five data centers, West quickly realized it was time to rethink its maintenance strategy, and turned to long-time technology solutions partner MSI Systems Integrators (MSI) for help.

Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska with over 28,000 employees throughout North America, Europe and Asia, West Corporation specializes in the creation of voice-related services, including communication, conferencing and receivables management services.

Because of its proven track record for helping manage West's hardware issues, MSI was chosen to tackle two critical goals: (1) pare down the overall paperwork and administrative costs generated through the acquisitions and (2) create a simpler way to maintain the expanded data center's IBM®, HP® Non-Stop, Sun®, EMC® and McDATA® platforms. Specifically, West Corporation wanted an easy-to-use, single vendor maintenance contract with a single expiration date.

What made MSI the most qualified for the job? West trusted MSI because of its credibility and dedication to being a leader in customer satisfaction. With MSI's significant investments in sales support and administrative and technical skills training, the company has a very high level of expertise in both maintenance and contract management. Through these investments MSI has established itself as an innovator in responding to maintenance issues efficiently and skillfully.

The MSI Solution

MSI's Client Asset Management solution for West included coverage of all platforms, leveraged MSI's proven asset management tool, and consolidated vendors and contracts into one agreement with a single expiration date. The solution enables West to access all inventory and contract information, warranty notifications and billing/invoicing through a secure, Web-enabled tool, delivering a truly seamless, single-source enterprise-wide solution.

MSI worked closely with IBM Global Services, drawing on critical IBM resources, to ensure a successful implementation for its customer. This included early involvement of the IGS CSMO, meetings on a regular basis, and steadfast collaboration to keep the lines of communication open throughout the project. Plugging into IBM also gave West the flexibility necessary to expand the maintenance offerings to include OEM and manufacturer's equipment, which was especially useful in light of the recent acquisitions.

The Benefits

Having a single maintenance organization and Web-accessible tool to view all of the equipment covered under the unified agreement allowed West to:

• Reduce administrative costs and paperwork needed to maintain the contracts
• Easily manage maintenance for non-IBM hardware
• Quickly and securely review and update contract and inventory information through an easy-to-navigate online interface
• Achieve customized billing and invoice management
• Leverage accurate, ongoing inventory and software license management
• Receive proactive, up-to-date contract and warranty notifications such as pricing changes
• Utilize one service line for the entire data center, with a dedicated MMS specialist to assist with problem resolution

"MSI worked closely with us, looking at the 'big picture' to provide a single enterprise solution to meet our maintenance needs," said Scott Hjermstad, VP, Enterprise Information Technology, West Corporation.