Executive Thought Leadership

Services Lifecycle to the Public Sector

Governments, universities, and nonprofit organizations may have different missions, but they share the same goalo serve the public.Technology helps public institutions achieve this goal by providing better and faster ways to communicate about important issues.

Today, the public sector is taking a comprehensive view of technology basics: networking, communications, Web services, and security. Government agencies are combining process reform, online solutions, and cultural change to make benefits accessible to citizens, and to save money and increase efficiency. From automobile registration and university distance learning to e-government mandates, the public sector has shown that it understands the power of the network to facilitate communications. It also recognizes a future in which advanced network technologies will meet more needs for more people.

Technology Challenges in the Public Sector

The public sector already uses networking technologies to serve its citizens, but building and optimizing new and current networks presents challenges. Public sector purchasing cycles are quite long and simply getting equipment is challenging, but a narrow focus on purchasing sometimes doesn include long-term planning and design best practices. Rapid technology innovation often means that public sector IT staffs are not prepared to support advanced technologies, such as data and voice converged networks. Few vendors understand both the technology and collaboration that vendors and institutions must share over the life of a network.

The Services Lifecycle: Meeting Public Sector Challenges

Cisco® has built many networks and has developed methodologies and best practices it shares with customers and partners through lifecycle services. Building a network can be compared to building a house. Both need preparation, creating a vision for future uses, based on needs, and a vision for growth. It is important to plan a house, assessing and testing both the site and the soil. It also is important to plan a network, assessing and testing current performance and available skills. An architect is needed to design the right home, with the present and future in mind, and an architect is needed to design the right network.

Network architects analyze requirements, existing infrastructure, and available technologies to design networks that can meet current needs and scale to support more users and new technologies in the future. When the design is complete, the next step is to build, and the next steps are to operate and optimize, making sure that the network meets the requirements for which it was designed.

A public sector network, like a home, will benefit from different experts throughout its lifecycle. The Services Lifecycle mirrors the lifecycle of the network, and can provide our public sector customers with the right services at each stage of development.

The Services Lifecyle

• PREPARE—Provide technology and business vision for the future, consulting for business process reengineering, and network planning

• PLAN—Assess and test current network performance, provide architectural planning for the future, and assess current skill levels

• DESIGN—Create a detailed network design, application design, and network software recommendations

• IMPLEMENT—Help ensure that the design and deployment deliver the desired network value and functions

• OPERATE—Provide daily network operations, software change-control processes, and maintain network performance at agreed upon service levels

• OPTIMIZE—Assess network performance and provide recommendations for achieving peak performance, even when business conditions or network demands change

Traditionally, public sector customers have focused on design, implementation, and operation. Adopting the entire lifecycle helps to ensure that networks now and in the future provide the most value, with less downtime, better security, and the ability to quickly add new technologies.

Adopting the Services Lifecycle can help meet the technology challenges that face the public sector. Working with Cisco preparation, planning, and design experts helps public sector IT groups buy equipment that meets current needs and scales for the future. Working with implementation services helps ensure that the network is built using best practices.

We can help our public sector customers prevent and mitigate problems and be successful, quickly. Cisco transfers knowledge at every phase of the lifecycle, helping IT staffs learn the skills they need to run nextgeneration converged networks.

At Cisco, we know that successful implementations require collaboration and responsibility between customers and vendors. Institutions have the authority to purchase and finance hardware and software, but they need a vendor to build a network. That why it important to create a service strategy that develops and supports collaboration.

Cisco: A Partner for the Public Sector

Working with Cisco throughout the network lifecycle is a way to help ensure that your network will meet the needs of the people your institution serves, swiftly and securely. Cisco understands its responsibilities to public sector institutions and their networks. We welcome the opportunity to work with you for many years to come.