Enhancement of System Utilization Support for Corporate Customers- IT Cost Reduction Consulting Service offered as first step in utilization support -

NTT DATA Corporation today began offering a new IT Cost Reduction Consulting service, aimed at helping corporate customers get more benefit from their investment in information technology by strategically reviewing that spending.
The service begins with a quick review lasting two to four weeks, during which the customer's IT assets and costs are analyzed to discover possible problems. Next, specific actions such as optimizing the system structure by integrating servers, or revising operation processes, are recommended as part of a cost-reduction plan. Then the expertise of NTT DATA Group in developing solutions in various fields is deployed to, provide full support from introducing the suggested cost-reduction measures to ensuring their long-term effective utilization.

For the NTT DATA Group, System Utilization Support (Performance Driving), designed to derive maximum benefit from system use, is a key pillar of the value provided to customers.
In system utilization, it is important to perform a strategic review of IT spending from both effectiveness and cost standpoints, and to raise the investment benefits. The IT Cost Reduction Consulting service launched by NTT DATA is the first step in System Utilization Support. The purpose of this support will be to maximize the benefits of the customer's IT investment first of all from the IT cost-reduction standpoint.

Background (NTT DATA's System Utilization Initiatives)

As an Innovation Partner helping customers reengineer their operations, NTT DATA provides global support from concept to implementation.
This support comes in the form of a 3D Value Cycle, a value provision model consisting of Innovation Designing ("Upstream") for creating the innovation concepts together with the customer, Solution Developing ("Making") for creating the actual system solutions that realize the concepts, and Performance Driving ("Utilization") for helping customers derive maximum benefit from their IT investment after the system building phase.

System Utilization Support

Of the various points to be considered with customers as part of system utilization support by NTT DATA, this time the focus is on ROI (return on investment). A strategic review of benefits and costs with the aim of increasing ROI is of major importance for effective system utilization.
NTT DATA approaches the issue of system utilization first of all by making IT assets and costs visible and clarifying the causes of problems, from the standpoint of cost reduction. Next, a plan is drafted that tries to balance the immediate effects and the mid- to long-term impact. Solutions are created and implemented based on this plan, and support is provided to make sure a mechanism is in place for maintaining proper costs.
In addition, IT Management Consulting and IT Advisor Service are among the services provided for building mechanisms that will raise the level of system utilization in order to derive greater benefits.
In IT Cost Reduction Consulting, NTT DATA will work with customers to review existing IT costs, as a first step toward improving system utilization.

♦Overview of System Utilization Support

♦Please see the following site for details of NTT DATA's system utilization support.

http://www.nttdata.co.jp/3dvaluecycle/performance-d/

About IT Cost Reduction Consulting

The IT Cost Reduction Consulting service consists of a Quick Review phase lasting approximately two to four weeks for making IT costs visible and providing a simple diagnosis of the potential for reducing those costs, followed by a Full Assessment phase during which a specific cost reduction plan is drawn up and the benefits are presented quantitatively. In implementing a plan, the best combination of solutions and knowledge for each customer is selected and put together from approximately 50 solutions in the NTT DATA Group and the accompanying knowledge.
This service can propose to the customer an optimal action plan from a mid- to long-term standpoint as opposed to focusing on quick-fix measures. It can also be useful for verifying the effectiveness and suitability of cost-reduction measures already being implemented, in order to enhance their precision.

♦Service provision flow

Flow of IT Cost Reduction Consulting service

♦Features

• Vendor-independent solutions
  All kinds of cost-reduction possibilities are pursued, from a neutral standpoint and not bound by existing restrictions.
• Full lineup
  A full lineup of solutions is available, from software to facilities.
• Customized solutions
  Solutions can be optimized to the customer's purposes, from a short-term to a medium or long-range standpoint.

♦Overall View of IT Cost Reduction Consulting (see Attachment)

Drawing on a full lineup from facilities, networks and hardware to software and applications, combinations of cost-reduction solutions are put together around the keywords consolidation, integration, sharing, and standardization. (See Attachment.)

♦IT Cost Reduction Example Cases

• System structure optimization
  In a major system restructuring, lease costs were reduced through server integration, contracts were revised taking into account software licensing arrangements, and storage use was leveled, with these and other measures resulting in a cost reduction of approximately 20 percent.
• Operation process improvement
  Savings of around 25 percent were realized by conducting a detailed analysis of costs involved in IT operations, revising the service levels of monitoring services, revising the network structure, and revising procurement operations, among other measures.

Looking Ahead

NTT DATA, as an Innovation Partner supporting customer innovation from concept to implementation, will continue to boost our efforts on behalf of effective system utilization.

* Names of products, companies and organizations herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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