The Business Value of DB2 UDB for z/OS

Chapter 7. Evaluating the cost of your solution 181

Security specialists

Regulatory interest in the use of customer data continues to increase pressure

on business to place greater audit control over access to systems and data.

Infrastructure simplification can help to provide tighter centralized control over

this valuable but highly sensitive company asset.

A comprehensive security policy is essential. However, it can add significant

expense through the need for specialist personnel and administration of a

burgeoning array of software and hardware security components.

IBM mainframes are recognized as one of the most secure server platforms in

terms of technology design and supporting software, such as RACF. Making this

robust and proven security infrastructure available to applications can drastically

simplify development effort and cut project time scales. Combine this with the

inherent security capabilities within DB2 UDB for z/OS and you have a

trustworthy security framework to support the growing needs of today’s world of

On Demand Business.

Customer and user support

Infrastructure and application simplification can lead to reduced training costs

and may mean better utilization of existing staff. Support staff costs encompass

both external customer and internal user departments. The number of diverse

applications and systems will affect the number of personnel needed to provide

end user assistance.

Experienced and consistently trained help desk staff are an expensive resource,

even when out sourced to a third party. This is recognized by the extensive use of

agency resource and automated, self-help solutions. The increasing adoption of

Web-based interfaces helps to standardize the look and feel of applications.

However it does not remove platform-specific knowledge needed for technical

issue resolution.

7.2.6 Quality of service

Quality of service (QoS) affects how business users and external customers

perceive aspects and characteristics of the IT applications with which they

interface. The cost impacts of bad QoS are indeterminate, from a customer’s

decision not to return, through bad press and a drop in share price.

Note: As with the infrastructure virtualization initiative, there is a long-term

objective to make the mainframe like “any other server” in regard to user

interaction. Business users, support staff, and developers will be relieved from

the burden of learning platform-specific skills.

182 The Business Value of DB2 UDB for z/OS

The following sections list considerations that you should take into account when

you attempt to qualify system experience and its impact on the business.

Customer experience

In regard to customer experience, weigh the following considerations.

򐂰 Poor performance: Response times

You may supply the desired product or service. But consider how many users

give up before reaching the checkout due to slow response or cumbersome

application.

򐂰 Availability

If your system is not there when your customers want it, day or night, your

customers have plenty of alternatives available to them.

򐂰 Repeat business: Customer returns

In the online world, there are always numerous results from a search for

service or product. You may not be chosen a second time if the experience

was not as expected, and expectations today are extremely high.

򐂰 Additional business: Customer referral

A customer may discuss a bad experience of your system with friends, family,

and colleagues but it won’t achieve desirable benefits.

Business experience

In regard to the business experience, consider these items.

򐂰 Business Intelligence (BI) gathering

The thriving industry in products and services around BI reflects the value

being placed on the effective use of enterprise data. Many companies take

the option to extract, maintain, and query operational data copies remote from

the master source. With distributed systems and the lack of single source, the

collection, collation, and audit of data may become complex and costly.

򐂰 IT department responsiveness

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) advocates the re-assessment of the

IT-business relationship with the IT department becoming a true service

provider to the enterprise. The business takes greater ownership of IT

requirements and starts to evaluate ROI of the service provided in respect to

measurable business value.

An effective and simplified IT infrastructure is imperative to provision a

cost-effective operation.