1. Demystifying ISC Charges

2. Why is this relevant to you as a BA?
Total Wharton Departmental spending (Non-WCIT) approximated $1.04 M in FY18
21 Departments spent in excess of $5k, and 18 Departments spent in excess of $15k, during FY18. 
When a department moves offices, Ports and IP addresses are NOT automatically disconnected and billing is NOT automatically stopped or transferred to the new department occupying the space
You have to request these things separately from ISC
Process to disconnect ports and IP addresses is not as straight-forward as it may seem
If your department has moved offices, chances are you may be paying for ISC charges belonging to another department
First ORG I worked for paid for ports in previous office for 5 years
Most recently we paid for 20 ports and 43 IP addresses for 7+ months (~$5k)
Even if your department has not moved recently, a periodic and routine review is still advisable
Requests can include incorrect budget codes, which ISC does not always question or confirm
When departments have equipment changes, like fewer printers or change in coverage for AirPennNet, it can leave them with ports and  IP addresses that they don’t need but are still being charged for
Without oversight and review, incorrect charges can persist for years
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Reason for this presentation:
Your department may be paying for ports, IP addresses, and other services it is not necessarily utilizing
These charges are easy to miss if you don’t know what you are looking for and they can add up (so far I have identified over $10k in erroneous charges in two different departments I have worked for.
We would like to show you what to look for to identify possible irregularities and the process to address issues if you find them

3. Different Types of ISC Charges
There are several different types of charges that ISC charges within the Bill of IT, including:
Administrative Systems
SMTP
Back It Up
Listserv
Third Level Domain
Central Service (IP's)
Box
Mainframe
Video Services
PennCloud
Data/Voice Ports
Voice (Telecom) Services
Secure Remote Backup
Webhosting
Mari
ISC bills for a variety of things.
Source:
For a complete listing of services visit:

4. Some Types of ISC Charges Further Explained
Ethernet Ports (literally the wall plate connections for phones, computers, printers, fax) – coded to specific buildings, suites and rooms
IP Addresses (either dynamic or static) – for computers, printers, PennNet phones, etc.
Dynamic IPs - can change as devices connect to the Penn network and are used when you connect any devices to the internet via Ethernet cables to the ports (Note: Dynamic IP ranges can be shared between departments)
Static IPs - need to be registered and assigned by IT support staff. Never change once they are assigned to a device on the network. Used for remotely connecting to computers from off campus as well as printers and other tech equipment
Wireless IP – at Penn quantity is your Wireless IP count. The counts are reviewed every year and will only change in the event there of a significant change such as adding a new access point (router). – Wireless IPs are used mostly for any device that connects to the network via AirPennNet, but mostly for mobile devices like laptops, tablets (iPads, Surface), and cellphones
PennNet Phones – in addition to IP addresses for phones, the phone sets themselves as well as the phone numbers are charged to departments as part of the Bill of IT
Mari
However, today, we will focus specifically on the billing of:
Ethernet ports, which are the physical wall plate connection for computers, phones, printers, servers, etc.,
and of IP addresses, which are network addresses for all devices that are plugged into those port.
A few things to note:
Each active port and IP address is billed each month regardless if it is actually used.
All devices plugged into the ports, including phones, are assigned an IP address.
Also, it’s worth noting that the IP addresses assigned to wireless devices such as phones and laptops are billed separately.
Source:

5. Client Bill From Apptio System
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Mari
Your LSP should be able to help you figure out the number of ports and IP addresses that would be expected for your org.
As noted on the last slide, ports and IP addresses are billed even if they are not used, so it is not unlikely that you would be billed for more than you are actually using.
It is cause for concern if your number of ports/IP address is significantly higher than what you would expect or if your number is lower than you would expect, since that almost certainly means that another department is paying your charges.
As an aside, it’s worth noting that each IP address incurs 2 charges each month, IP Billing and CSF Bundle, so either of those numbers is your number of IP addresses. I believe the numbers should normally be the same, but there are perhaps reasons they might differ. Your number of ports will be the sum of your PennNet and VoIP ports.

6. ISC Network Billing Detail Report From Business Objects
Description $$
ITEM
Location
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This is an example of a report you can run in Business Objects. Some columns have been taken out for clarity and privacy. This report is for July 2018.
Under “Service ID” column (in this slide, column #4 that says Description) you can see the description of the service: “IP Billing, CSF Bundle, Penn Net Services such as phones, phone lines, etc.)
“SUM Transaction” shows the billing amount for each item
I want to call attention to columns #10 & #11 (Item and Desc 1) – Under Item you will find the port information or the IP address being charged. (Mari will tell you more about how to understand ports in a minute.)
Under Desc 1, you will find information about the Location of the item – The abbreviations stand for building codes that are also normally used on the wall plates that label each port.
In our case, our ORG moved to a new building called Larry Robbins House, so the abbreviation for it is LRH. On this July report we also had 38 charges for DCC (which is Hamilton Court) and 29 charges for LSH (which is the Penn Women’s Center.) These added to $500 we were paying that ONE month. M&T had been in Hamilton court for a year, but had moved out of that space in September 2017.
Knowing your building code will help you scan your report for unusual charges at least at a high level each month. However, remember some organizations share the same building, so even if this is correct, you may want to make sure you also know which offices belong to your department.
Add link to this slide List of Building Codes:
This report can be run by following this path in Business Objects: Public Folders>ISC Billing>ISC Network Billing Detail
List of Building Codes:
List of Service Charges:

7. Penn Ethernet Port Example
Building (VAN)
Room (137)
Plate Number (1)
Ports on the Plate (U1, U2, U3, U4) U1 U2
Mari
Understanding the naming convention of ports can help you more quickly identify ports that should be billed to you and potentially find departments whose ports you have been paying for.
VAN - The letters at the beginning are the building code.
137 – The next few numbers are the room number.
1 – the number after the dash indicates the wall plate within a room, since rooms can have multiple wall plates
U1 – Finally the “U” number is the actual port you connect to. Note that each one of the connections is billed as a separate port, so the wall plate pictured has the potential to represent up to 4 “port” lines on your bill.
IP addresses are much harder to identify as belonging to a particular department since a single IP address can be used by different departments at different times or not at all. I would work with your LSP and ISC if you believe that your IP Billing needs to be fixed. U3 U4

8. If a Department is Using your Former Ports
Ports and IPs may not be able to be disconnected
You will need to work with your Local Service Provider (LSP, i.e. WCIT) within Wharton to identify the group using your former ports/IPS
You may need to transfer funds between departments once charges are agreed upon
ISC will only refund money to your department if you can show that you requested the disconnection of ports and IP addresses
Check your report each month, because other departments may show up in your bill
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Mari and I worked together with our LSPs to identify the ports and IP addresses that we had been paying for that belonged to her department.

9. New Procedures to Disconnect and Stop Billing
Contact your LSP (Wharton IT rep)
They will need to help you identify Ports and IP addresses being used in your department (this may take a while)
LSP submits a request to ISC to make the changes using the new ISC Support Center
Keep a copy of the request for future reference
ISC Billing is automatically notified once the items are disconnected or reassigned to a different budget code and will stop charges
You can cc ISC Billing but it is not necessary
New process – Bill presenting

10. New ISC Support Center https://upenn-dwp.onbmc.com/dwp/app
New ISC website – Bill presenting
Name of Initiative

11. Contacts and Resources
Your Wharton Computing IT Support Rep
Note: Each department may have a different rep that provides technical supports and these requests can be made to the same Wharton Computing staff member or team that you typically request IT assistance from
If you have questions about who to reach out to, CTS -Client Support can help
ISC Client Care (allows you to track tickets)
ISC Billing (only billing issues, no disconnections)
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12. Apptio System Access and Resources
Apptio Access Form
Additional Resources, including Apptio office hours
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13. Questions?
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