Better Decision Making by Understanding IT Spend From WAG to Perception!!! Danny Bramman Head of Corporate Services - ULCC

ULCC Costing Information – The Why Established 1968 as a ‘Super Computer’ Centre for HE one of three in the UK Continually re-invented ourselves over the next 40 years In 2005 we had 2 large contracts and had started looking after UoL IT needs And then………………

ULCC why we started to dig 2 40% of our revenue was insourced back to JANET So were some of our costs (TUPE) Lack of useful data No up to date financial information No basis to make effective decisions At the time UoL had an old finance system

The Challenges No useful financial information No understanding of ‘Cost’ and ‘Price’ No timecard information Costs allocated to whatever department could afford it Functional Silos – poor communication We needed good information

How ‘Sell’ the need for change Collect data Model activities with technical staff Model the costs of each activity Test the models Continuously improve the models Use DCF techniques for investment appraisal

Key elements of the cost models Staff Costs Equipment costs –Depreciation (what is the useful life) –Maintenance (hardware & software) Space Costs Data Centre Costs Power Costs Overheads The cost of money VAT impact

The Finance Link Comprehensive coding system Appropriate granularity Careful coding of items (PO, Invoices) Not too much off-system work Monthly Accounts Regular review with finance

Staff Costs – how and what do you recover Salary, Employers N I & Pension Costs Training Overheads (at ULCC c£150 per day) Days available for recovery Don’t forget –Holidays (including University closure & BH) –Sickness –Training & Administration

Labour Costs Staff Costs (average for implementation/support staff)48, Departmental Overheads10,12351 Equipment Costs2,37212 Space Costs2,22212 Central Overheads18,30992 Total81,714411

Data Centre Costing Space Costs Power Costs (know your PUE) Standby generator? Equipment Costs –Cabinets –Cooling –Power Management & Monitoring –DCIM –Networking

Cost of a rack in the DC Annual Cost of 6 amp 42U rack Space Costs 1,573based on 3.4 m 2 per rack Power inc Cooling 1,951based on 6 PUE of 1.9 Rack Depreciation 1587 year life Power Management Depreciation 1305 year life Power Management Maintenance 98annual mtce costs Standby Generator Costs 372Incl deprec mtce & running costs Data Centre Management staff 244allocated per rack Data Centre Management overheads 167allocated per rack Total Cost/Price 4,693to recover each year

Service Costing things to remember SAN capitalisation over life time of product (be careful when adding further components) Electricity (SAN and ancillary DC kit) Hardware & software maintenance Data Centre Management Additional kite (SAN switches) Your man time to support the kit Calculations based on usable storage Overheads (typically our overheads are £150 per person per day) Average utilisation of storage (include wasted storage) Supplier installation and move costs Data Centre Floor space to house equipment (UPS, Generator, Pumps, Chillers, BMS etc) Supplier price increases Cost of money Contingency (New/High Risk) Testing /Auditing (e.g. Data Centre black building test and time spent with auditors)

Starting on your journey Everyone is a customer Sell the process internally Time recording is essential Know your data centre costs & performance Appropriate granularity Work with finance Continuous improvement of models Don’t be afraid to fail (at first)