1massanutten regional library case study final

E-N COMPUTERS, INC. Tel 866-692-9082 Fax 703-935-2665 service@encomputers.com www.encomputers.com

What Managed Services did for Massanutten Regional Library A case study

Introduction The aim of this case study is to give an overview of how a Virginia based private Regional Library has recently overcome many of the IT costs and challenges it faced by making the decision to adopt the services of a managed services provider. Not only has this resulted in considerable savings in terms of finance and manpower, it has enabled them to provide the wide range of technology driven information and functionality demanded by today’s tech savvy public.

Background Founded in 1928, Massanutten Regional Library (MRL) has been an integral part of the local Virginia community for many years. With 7 branches spread throughout Harrisonburg, Rockingham County and Page County, they provide the cornerstone to the educational infrastructure for the wide ranging needs of a diverse community in the region. The library is a private, non profit organization, funded by two local counties, one city, donations from the public, and a grant from the Commonwealth. The Board of Trustees responsible for budgetary approval is made up of local residents. To support the business and underpin the service they provide to the public, MRL has accumulated IT equipment for use by their 50 staff with a further 50 PCs allocated for public use.

Some of the challenges What follows is a sample of some of the challenges that had been facing the library on a daily basis. 

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As is often the case, support for their IT systems had for several years been provided in house on a contracted ‘break fix’ basis. Though occasionally backed up by additional in house resource, it was rapidly gaining a reputation for being a largely ineffective support mechanism.

Lack of time meant that projects often took months, sometimes years to complete.

Onsite visits would be required for even the simplest of tasks, which though carried out at night to avoid disruption, were not an efficient use of time.

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With 50% of the fixed budget going towards personnel, there was little left to spend on IT systems and related infrastructure.

Equipment was old, outdated and had limited functionality.

Despite the basic network infrastructure that was in place, multiple service providers were being used. Having independent multi line phone systems at each site created additional complexity, resulting in unacceptable variations in speed and reliability of service.

Costs soared as arrangements for services had to be made with local providers at each site.

Auditors expressed concern around security issues of the server which was uncaged, and the lack of IT support relative to the size of infrastructure it was meant to serve.

Inefficiencies were evident at every turn; technical support, such as it was, was dramatically overstretched for the task at hand, and costs were spiraling out of control. Most importantly, the library group as a whole, and critically the technology on which it depended, was not capable of providing the level of service it wanted to, and that was being demanded by its public.

What happened next?

Following a major review of the status quo, a decision was made to outsource many of the services that had to date been proving both challenging to manage internally, and prohibitively costly due to the use of multiple vendors. As part of this review process, MRL approached E-N Computers, with whom they had been in dialogue for some time, and invited them to present their solution to some of the challenges outlined above.

Emphasizing a preventative and proactive approach, rather than the reactive approach they had endured for so many years, the solution E-N Computers offered focused on maximizing efficiencies, reducing ongoing costs and ensuring the library was equipped with every aspect of leading edge technology they would need to become truly competitive and provide the best service possible to their patrons. 

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Their proposal highlighted structural changes to include the integration of all sites into one professional and secure network, based on a solid platform of refreshed infrastructure hardware and cabling.

Creative financing was offered to spread the hardware cost over three years, allowing major capital expenditure to fit within budget.

Service providers were to be streamlined, providing consistency along with dramatically improved performance.

With the increased speed and dependability of the refreshed internet service, the outdated phone system was to be replaced by a VOIP phone system.

In branch, hardware was either to be replaced or updated and reconfigured for internal or public use as appropriate.

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Remote monitoring would allow best practices around network maintenance and updating to be implemented.

Remote access tools for Tier 1 issue resolution would be easy enough to learn and they were to be made available to a non IT trained in house resource.

User helpdesk support would become available to every employee at the time of need.

Regular monthly onsite visits by highly trained technical staff would allow for forward planning of Tier 2 & 3 maintenance, staff training and ad hoc mini projects.

The way it looks now Underpinning the new multi site network with new servers and related professional grade equipment has allowed the library to meet the rapidly changing technological demands of its patrons. 

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Replacing basic legacy technologies that were in place and refreshing the internet service has allowed the library to offer previously unthinkable services such as the provision of Wi-Fi, video editing and streaming capabilities to name but a few.

In house resource has been, and continues to be, trained on the use of remote tools for Tier 1 issue resolution, ensuring immediate response, less down time and greater control over internal and public equipment across all sites, without having to leave the office.

Remote updates and maintenance can be carried out across the whole network out of hours, leading to reduced risk of disruption and downtime.

Best practice security protocols and back up procedures have been implemented.

Access to the Integrated Library System has been dramatically improved for all branches.

Compliance issues have been addressed with servers being professionally racked and secured.

In addition to the regular monthly onsite technical visits providing consultancy expertise, training and knowledge transfer leading to huge productivity gains, the library also has the benefit of the whole team’s worth of expertise, rather than depending on the knowledge and ability of just one individual.

Helping maintain credit card processing compliance and recycling of old equipment were additional benefits.

Financial Savings The relatively low in house support costs of the old system ($27,500) were nevertheless coupled with high charges provided from the broad range of external service providers being used at the time ($48,600) resulting in an annual IT spend well in excess of $75,000. The financial impact to staff and the business caused by downtime, along with time spent in service provider management alone is considerable, albeit much harder to quantify.

The solution proposed by E-N Computers included a highly competitive financing scheme allowing the cost of hardware to be spread over three years. Combined with an immediate saving in excess of 50% in

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annual phone and internet service charges, the library will still see overall cost savings well in excess of 12% on its annual IT spend.

Not only can they now clearly demonstrate to their funders that their donations continue to be spent wisely, but with the work that has now been carried out, and the ongoing support they will continue to receive, they can remain confident about staying ahead of the technology curve, and providing an excellent service to their patrons. Regular monthly payments to one service provider now streamlines the payment and management process, and allows them to confidently budget well into the future.

Conclusion The creation of a fully integrated network, configured over the 7 sites, using the latest professional grade equipment to optimize performance and maximize efficiency, is now accompanied by a fully managed service contract providing a far broader range of services than were available in the past.

Along with ongoing project work, specifically focused on technological improvements and performance enhancements, the library is now able to maximize the efficiency of its staff and the services they offer, allowing them to remain ahead of the demand curve. A compelling wrap around financing scheme has facilitated short term major capital expenditure, opening the way to substantial long term savings in overall IT spend.

Above all, Massanutten Regional Library can now concentrate on delivering a first class range of comprehensive technology driven services to its patrons.

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