EIRE SYSTEMS

CASE STUDIES

With over 10 years experience in the Asia-Pacific region, EIRE Systems has built a reputation for delivering projects and IT services on time, within budget and to client expectations. Through our project management services we have completed multiple data centre, trading floor, building relocation, restack and BCP/DR projects, while our IT service solutions help our clients maintain the level of IT systems availability demanded by their businesses.

With several hundred projects completed to date, EIRE Systems has a thorough understanding of the technology subtleties and implementation requirements necessary to successfully complete projects in the finance, insurance, pharmaceutical, government, education and professional services industries. The case studies below highlight some of the projects completed recently by EIRE Systems in some of these fields:

Large Scale Data Center Implementation

Client: A leading US investment bank with over 50,000 employees worldwide with an ever increasing global presence.

Project: To implement an offsite data center solution that can cater for expanding IT infrastructure demands over the next 5 years, while decoupling IT infrastructure functions from day-to-day business demands.

Solution:  To deliver a complete data center solution the following tasks were completed:

  • Production of a project plan including all steps and designs necessary to successfully complete the IT infrastructure fit out.
  • Implementation of site surveys and interviews with local IT staff to produce/confirm all IT requirements to house current and future data centre equipment.
  • Production of detailed plans/layouts of data center to cater for all equipment including telecommunications, network, WAN, exchange feeds, third part vendors etc.
  • Liaison with M&E consultants to coordinate data centre layout in line with Client M&E equipment installations including air conditioning, UPS, generator, transformers, earthquake frames, flooring, lighting, security systems etc.
  • Production of tender documentation for IT systems including cabling, equipment racks, network equipment, voice (VoIP), SAN, and server requirements.
  • Production of task list and schedule for the installation and commissioning of IT cabling infrastructure and equipment rack works.
  • Production of task list and schedule for installation and relocation of all IT equipment into new data center.
  • Budget production and cost tracking all IT expenditure throughout project implementation.
  • Production of defects/snag list during implementation stage, and ensuring completion of all works, including reporting of progress to Client on a regular basis.
  • Coordination the delivery of all documentation.

Office Relocation

Client: A leading global investment bank serving institutional, corporate, government and high net worth clients, including securities underwriting, sales and trading, investment banking, private equity, alternative assets, financial advisory services, investment research, and asset management.

Project: Relocation of main Tokyo office to new building.

Solution:  As part of this building relocation the following steps were implemented:

  • IT Project Plan - Production of preliminary Project Plan including all steps and designs necessary to successfully complete the IT infrastructure fit out in new building.
  • IT Project Budget - Production of  a project budget which was the main tool for IT cost management and control.
  • IT Project Risk - Definition of IT risks under the following headings:
    • Risk identification
    • Risk quantification
    • Risk response development
    • Risk response control
  • IT Change Control Process - Establishment of a change control process to track and incorporate changes to the scope of works, relocations schedule and costs.
  • Establish Information Flow - Establishment of the flow of information between all team members taking part in the relocation project to ensure that all members were informed of all relevant aspects of the projects.
  • Resource Allocation - Resource planning to determine whether the IT skilled resources were available internally or whether external resources were required.
  • Requirement Analysis - Requirement Analysis included the following tasks:
    • Gathering of existing definitions of requirements and current systems.
    • Consolidating and incorporating these requirements with future requirements (including ease of expandability, future growth, ability to incorporate future technology etc.).
    • Establishing consensus within IT and the Business on the strategic direction, specific suppliers and systems to utilise.
    • Gaining approval for the strategic and practical directions for all new IT infrastructure systems being installed in the new office.
  • Design Review - Implementation of new strategic technologies within the Client’s existing IT environment. The establishment of the new office was a very good opportunity to implement future strategic technology decisions for the Client’s core IT infrastructure.
  • Preparation of Request For Proposal (RFP) - The RFP process was the principal tool for vendor price negotiation. The RFP detailed all materials and labour cost required to implement the IT infrastructure, and the unit costs that could be used for any additional work outside the initial scope of works.
  • RFP Analyses - This process was completed by using an evaluation matrix to analyse the responses to the RFP and for making a recommendation to the Client for the supply of equipment and services.
  • Procurement Coordination - working with selected vendors and the Client procurement department, the procurement process was monitored in order to prevent any potential delays to the project, which was critical when considering long lead items and where early installation was required.
  • Liaison with Finance - developed a budget and cost allocation model for expenditure incurred on all IT Infrastructure works.
  • Implementation Planning - produced a detailed implementation plan for the installation and deployment of all IT infrastructure, and all other systems that formed part of the scope of works for the IT infrastructure design and implementation.
  • Site Coordination (bilingual services - English/Japanese) - coordination of all onsite activities of IT vendors, including arrangements such as site access, scheduling for deliveries, and procedures to be followed for building management.
  • Site Inspection - implementation of daily site inspections during the construction and fit out phase, including ensuring all standards in the design and tender documentation were being adhered to.
  • Inventory - coordination and validation of all the systems inventories before each user relocation.
  • Move Coordination - coordination of movement of all systems and user equipment to the new building.
  • Reinstatement of Existing Premises - management of removal of all none relocated IT equipment from old IT spaces.
  • Handover Documentation - as part of the handover documentation the following standards were used:
    • AutoCAD for all CAD drawings
    • Microsoft Project for preparing project plans
    • Microsoft Visio for non-CAD drawings including rack layout templates etc.
    • Microsoft Word and Excel for general documentation

Business Continuity Planning / Disaster Recovery

Client: A leading international insurance company operating worldwide offering a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services.

Project:

  • Establish and confirm a broad business continuity policy
  • Develop site specific BCP strategies
  • Deliver a BCP/DR solution
  • Implement testing of the delivered solution
  • Provide end users training

Solution: The solution consisted of the following seven steps:

  • Establishment and Confirmation of Broad Business Continuity Policy
    Global and regional considerations were included, where this work also defined audit, regulatory and ethical commitments.
  • Development of Site Specific BCP Strategy
    A review of local business group specific requirements was undertaken to determine the basic strategy, scope and schedule for a location specific BCP project. Tactical and strategic response considerations were addressed at this stage.
  • Organisation and Confirmation a Project Existence
    Project establishment meetings, structure (staffing), reporting, and deliverables were established at this stage. A staffing profile including business, technology, audit and legal considerations was also developed.
  • Initiation of Fieldwork.
    Following the criteria set out above a Business Impact Analysis process was undertaken. Information collection, risk assessment, and preliminary Recovery Plan work was undertaken.
  • Solution Delivery
    Documentation of business recovery plans, technology requirements, preliminary design, issue of tender documents, budget approvals, contracts and build solution all formed part of this process.
  • Testing and Training
    This stage included the development of an “Incident Response Process and Procedure” (BCP/DR manual), including the definition of testing and training profiles, and establishment of business processes to better support the recovery strategies.
  • Maintenance Schedule
    A process for the maintenance of the BCP plan was implemented. This was a key requirement for audit and regulatory commitments. This step provided a feedback loop into a Business Impact Analysis process for the continuous maintenance of the BCP/DR solution.

Managed Services

Client: An innovator in global finance servicing the needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide.

Project:  To provide helpdesk services for front and back office users.

Solution:  Our Managed Services ensure that the Client receives predictable levels of support on an “as needs” basis, without worrying about headcount. Our helpdesk engineering team is onsite to provide IT services at all levels required by the Client’s front and back office users. Using our onsite and offsite support personnel our Managed Services can be scaled to provide additional (or reduced) support as our Client’s needs fluctuate, providing our Client with a cost efficient, efficient solution with minimal user downtime

MAC Support

Client: A leading US investment bank with a strong present in the Asian market.

Project:  The provision of Moves, Adds and Changes (MACs) support for its Tokyo Office, with approximately 1,000 user moves per year.

Solution:  EIRE Systems solution for Moves Adds and Changes (MACs) provides a logical approach for our Client’s small, medium and large scale relocation projects. Our onsite move coordinator and offsite relocation team are responsible for planning and implementing all user MACs. Regardless of the size and timing of our Client’s MACs our offsite relocation staff can provide disconnect, relocation and reconnect services to cater for any MAC request, while our onsite move coordinator is available to liaison with all relevant IT and business personnel to gather all relevant relocation information, prepare move lists and site maps, and coordinate with third parties including facilities, voice, market data, IT teams and outside vendors, to ensure an effective and timely MAC implementation. Our onsite MAC coordinator is also responsible for all documentation updates once any MAC is completed ensuring that all client documentation is kept up-to-date. 


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