In this release:
In this release, Benchmark Data Refresh and ATUM V2 (Cost Pools & Towers) are supported. Below is the list of (1) new capabilities and (2) known limitations.
New Capabilities
ATUM V2 Towers and Sub Towers
In this version customers can get ATUM V2 OpEx Towers as well as Infrastructure Unit Costs for Sub-Towers. The Sub-Towers supported are:
- Compute - Servers, Unix, Midrange, Mainframe
- Storage - Online, Offline, Mainframe Online, Mainframe Offline
- Network - LAN/WAN, Voice, Transport
- End User - Workspace, End User Software, Conferencing & AV, IT Help Desk, Desktop Support, Email
- Application - Database, Middleware, Mainframe Database, Mainframe Middleware
- Delivery - It Service Management
- IT Management
- Output
The ATUM Version selected for a customer instance is indicated in the top right portion of the page, as shown in the screen shot below.
(Click to enlarge)
Scale Adjusters for Infrastructure Metrics - Power Functions
This version has updated the Scale Adjusters to more accurately represent the impact of scale on unit costs. The scale adjuster is a power function that calls out the change in unit costs as volume increases. This scale function also covers the range of Costs in the "box" portion of the box plot. In other words, the volume range between the lower quartile unit cost and the upper quartile is represented in the adjuster. Below is a screen shot of one of the Scale Adjusters. This scale adjuster is for both ATUM V1 and ATUM V2.
NOTE With this improved scale function, its possible that the scale-based Unit Cost value has differences with prior benchmark data metrics.
Data Refresh
This version includes a benchmark data refresh. Both V1 & V2 benchmark data are refreshed across all three benchmark metric types. The Apptio Community Data now has almost doubled the sample sizes for IT OpEx metrics.
Note: As mentioned in the above section, Interactive Benchmarking introduces an updated benchmarking model - Representation of the sample distribution along with adjusters that enables self service. This implies the Unit Costs with prior benchmark data & model (a single point mean-based comparison) will differ from this version.
On-boarding
Customers can select their ATUM Version when they are setting up Interactive Benchmarking for the 1st time. The screen shots below walk through the on-boarding steps.
1.Getting Started Screen
This is the 1st page customer sees when they access Interactive Benchmarking for the first time.
2.Input Organizational Profile
On clicking the Lets Get Started button, the customer sees this screen where we provides organizational data.
3.ATUM Version Selection
In this next step, customer chooses his ATUM Version. In this release, this is a 1-time configuration.
4.Annual Cost Data
Here, the customer has to type in his Annual Costs. In this version, for V2, customers don't have the option to Fetch Actuals from a Cost Transparency project.
Once these steps are completed, customer can now access the Interactive Benchmark pages.
Known Limitations
1. One Time Selection of ATUM versions - Users can do a 1-time selection of ATUM Version at on-boarding time. The On boarding section above shows the steps for making this selection.
Customers that are currently using the product & have already on-boarded cannot switch versions. They will be in ATUM V1 mode and cannot switch to ATUM V2.
- Once a customer has made this selection (as part of on-boarding), he cannot switch versions.
If they need to switch to ATUM V2, they will need to contact their CS. The previous settings & data in Interactive Benchmarking will be reset.
2. Fetch Actuals from R12 (Front Door enabled Cost Transparency Projects) - Fetching actuals from an R12 is not yet supported. Customers will have to manually type in their actuals in Interactive Benchmarking
3. Access to prior Benchmark data - Customers will get access to the latest Benchmarking data in Interactive Benchmarking. If they need to see prior benchmark data, they need to have (1) made their selection (2) downloaded the CSV file & uploaded it to Cost Transparency & (3) view it in the uploaded month/year in Cost Transparency. In a future release, Interactive Benchmarking will support access to prior Benchmark data versions.