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Marketing Pitch for CUSG

Marketing Pitch for CUSG. NEW. IMPROVED. David E. Culler Computer Science Division U.C. Berkeley. Cheap. Go Bears. What we all want. High quality, modern, cost-effective computing enterprise across EECS, Soda&Cory, Unix &NT that we don’t have to worry about

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Marketing Pitch for CUSG

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  1. Marketing Pitch for CUSG NEW IMPROVED David E. Culler Computer Science Division U.C. Berkeley Cheap Go Bears

  2. What we all want • High quality, modern, cost-effective computing enterprise • across EECS, Soda&Cory, Unix &NT • that we don’t have to worry about • with technical staff that take care of it. • FREE, would be nice too.

  3. Students and Faculty Large Well-supported Research Groups General ERL Research Instructional and Electronics (IESG) labs, classrooms, teaching SW AV Own Sys. Admin Computer User Support (CUSG) desktop/server setup & maint. user help troubleshoot & repair The Structure we have built • Infrastructure (IDSG) • Unix, NT, network, services, storage, • SWW, mail, directory, calendar • defines the blueprint • http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/idsg

  4. What does CUSG do? • System / Software / User support • on contract ($730 desktop, $1,350 server, $530 sys mgmt) • $$ chosen in 99 to match CSG charges in Cory • time & materials ($58/hour) => isolate, fix, upgrade • HW support contracts • mostly passed through to Compaq • price varies with system • http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/cusg

  5. What’s NEW and IMPROVED? • Strong team • Unix and NT • Appropriate spread of skill sets • Tuned in to the EECS enterprise • Focused on support • Relieved of infrastructure duties • Tracking tools and helpdesk are in place • Billing process up to date • Requests acknowledged automatically via email to GA • Work and progress is trackable • Effective • Got a problem: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/cusg/Requests/ • or mail cusg@eecs

  6. CUSG Team (395 Cory, 387 Soda) • Rob McNicholas, PA IV, Leader (395 Cory) • Lars Rohrbach, PA III (395 Cory) • Jason Jed, PA III (387 Soda) • Phil Loarie, Prin. Elect. Tech. (399 Cory) • Ann DiFruscia, PA II (321 Soda) • Geoffrey Tso, Mike Howard: students • Gary Spears, GA

  7. But, ... • …, I used them N years ago and … • …, I got really frustrated with the billing back in… • …, I thought they only did Unix and … • …, I do all my own administration, so … • …, I just have my grad students do system admin… • …, I tried to sign up, but my GA thought it would save me money… • …, but my machine doesn’t break that often... • …, I tried six months ago and they just weren’t responsive

  8. Some facts • Today there are 212 systems/users on contract • From June-Dec it cost us $2,436/yr (effective) to administer a desktop • bringing machines up to current • bringing users up to current • significant revenue shortfall • Currently, in steady state it costs us $1,044/yr • utilizing the infrastructure well (NT-SWW, etc.) • better tools, more experienced team • At current staffing, capacity = ~330 contracts • also breakeven point • At ~400 contracts, current pricing starts to work

  9. Customer testimonials

  10. More facts • Without greater participation, CUSG will fail

  11. Why you want CUSG to exist • Your own system admin is very expensive • PA III > 100 K$ / year @ 20 desktops => 5K$/desktop • hard to hire, retain, house (expect gaps) • Skill set pyramid provides effective service • Guru solves less frequent hard problems • More moderate training for more routine tasks • Range of specialties • Greater uniformity and cohesion across dept. • operate within the blueprint, rather than fiefdoms • better support epidemiology • Better coverage, pooling, fall back • If it does not, the infrastructure group is overtaxed, the enterprise falls apart • unless we fold support into the baseline!

  12. So what do I do? • Just click on http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/cusg/Requests/ • Put “Sign me up” in the Work to be Done box

  13. Pros and Cons of Support Contract • T&M is fundamentally more expensive to provide • more billing overhead per action (for both GAs) • harder to put in your budgets • introduces a nagging $ focus on every little issue • difficult to plan and staff • Must expect lower quality of service • unfair to give priority over loyal contractees • support cannot be proactive or even up-to-date • only involved in putting out fires • Ultimately, the goal is to get a fair deal with minimum hassle • contract can be abused. needs to be a shared understanding

  14. Going forward • 7/99 plan remains in force till end of FY • Future depends on enrollment • Time to assemble FY2000 recharge plan • Want to know your “preferred products” • more “Complete” contract • fold basic helpdesk into the baseline • [ your good idea goes here ]

  15. Discussion

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