Server and Asset Management System Project Proposal

Server and Asset Management
System Project Proposal
Drafted for
Cerner Healthcare –
Managed Systems
Department
51 Valley Stream Parkway
Malvern, PA
19355
Cappelletti, Michael
and Lewis, Ian
December 13, 2015

Cerner Healthcare’s managed services department currently uses a variety of
methods for storing information about their clients’ servers, including an SQL
database (CMDB), and various spreadsheets and documents. The Managed Services
team spends a collective 30 hours per week on locating, updating, and
disseminating information regarding client servers for updates, maintenance, and
repairs. At an average estimated pay of $35/hour, this equates to $1,050 per week,
or $54,600 lost per year.
To streamline this process, we propose implementing Asset Panda –
a web application that can be integrated with CMDB in order to provide an
accessible, centralized repository for server information. Asset Panda can be
accessed through a web browser or a mobile application, allowing Cerner
employees to view and update information both on premise (at Cerner), or on site,
after performing maintenance on a server. The application includes QR code and
barcode functionality, allowing Managed Services team members to quickly look up a
server on site without entering long-winded ID codes.
A standard edition of Asset Panda, with 1,500 assets (Managed Services’ servers),
costs $1,699 yearly. Using Asset Panda would reduce the amount of time spent (per
week per employee) on managing server information from about 1.5 hours to about
30 min, resulting in a total savings of $34,701 per year, as well as the practical
advantage of having one repository for server information, as opposed to many,
disparate sources and methods of management. This proposal details an
implementation plan, relevant changes that would be made to the server information
management process, estimated costs, and possible risks that would be involved in
implementing Asset Panda.
Executive Summary
2

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Executive Summary..............................................................................2
Statement of Opportunity....................................................................4
Asset Panda for Cerner Healthcare...................................................5
Key Features.....................................................................................5
Structure...........................................................................................7
An Improved Management Process.................................................9
Risks and Mitigation..........................................................................12
Budget...............................................................................................13
Conclusions.....................................................................................14
3
Contact Information
Michael Cappelletti
mlc322@psu.edu
(610).636.2359
Ian Lewis
iil5029@psu.edu
(814).321.8540

Statement of Opportunity
Managed Services team members regularly have to identify and retrieve
information regarding current client servers, such as the server’s name, location,
configuration and hardware, performance issues, storage and memory capacity, and
whether or not it has been decommissioned, among other variables. Currently,
several methods exist to retrieve the requisite information for client server updates,
changes and maintenance – an irregularly updated database (referred to as CMDB),
individual reports on each server, and various cumbersome excel spreadsheets.
This problem stems mainly from two root causes:
(1) The recent acquisition of Siemens Healthcare by Cerner Healthcare – former
clients of Siemens Healthcare are now (as of February 2015) a subset of clients of
Cerner Healthcare, and the current Managed Services department is now
responsible for Seimens’s former clients and Cerner’s former clients before the
merger. Because of this acquisition, the Managed Services has also inherited
multiple methods of managing information about these clients’ servers.
(2) The speed at which business operates – Cerner is not short-staffed by any
means, but as a fast-paced business, opportunities to improve processes
sometimes fall by the wayside. The existence of redundant systems for updating
client information has been perpetuated because employees have not had time
to sit down and create a unified system, as they are focused on simply doing their
jobs.
It has been estimated that, collectively, employees waste 30 hours per week on
gathering current information regarding client servers from disparate sources. There
are at least 20 employees responsible for this task. At an average pay of $35/hour,
$1,050 per week (or $54,600 per year) is a rough estimate for how much money is
currently wasted on gathering this information.
The goal of this project is to implement an asset management
system that integrates these disparate sources of information
as automatically as possible using Asset Panda, in order to save
time and money for the Managed Services Department.
4

Asset Panda for Cerner Healthcare
Figure 1 – Hypothetical “Managed Servers” Page in Asset Panda
I – Key Features
Asset Panda has a straightforward user interface, accessible by logging into their
website. Asset Panda is designed as a general asset management system, which can
be customized to reflect the specific needs of an organization. There are several key
features provided by Asset Panda that we believe would streamline the server
information management process –
Usability: Asset Panda has an intuitive user interface that organizes asset entries
by groups, allows users to search for entries by any or all field(s), and is
completely customizable. Users can add or change the names and attributes of
groups and fields to best fit their needs. Asset Panda can be accessed from a
browser as a web application (http://www.assetpanda.com), or through an Android
or iOS mobile application. This would allow the Managed Services team to access
Asset Panda from the Cerner office and on site at client locations.
Actions: users can perform actions upon assets within Asset Panda, which can
have customized results. For example, the default “Repair” action in Asset Panda
prompts the user for the scheduled date, completion date, repair location, staff
member assigned to the repair, repair cost, and any miscellaneous notes. After the
action is performed, the results are logged in the object’s (asset’s) history. Users
can configure actions to have custom fields – for example, a “Repair Type” field
could be created with a drop-down menu, containing “Hardware,” “Software,” and
“Other” as options.
5

I – Key Features (cont’d)
Calendar: the Managed Services team has reurring
obligations to service client servers. Asset Panda
contains a calendar function, that allows users to
schedule actions ahead of time. This feature can be
used to send notifications to users at set times
before upcoming scheduled actions – Managed
Systems team members would receive notifications
detailing which server needs maintenance, its
location, and what actions must be performed during maintenance.
Flexibility: Asset Panda is fully customizable. Users can create objects within the
system, assign them attributes, and add them to groups. Asset Panda’s group
function can be customized as well – objects (in our case, servers) can be grouped
according to some attribute, which could be helpful for sorting servers by location,
hardware type, software type, and client.
Integration Services: Asset Panda offers integration services, which could be used
to leverage the information already within CMDB (the existing Managed Systems
server information database). Existing servers, and their attributes, can be drawn
from CMDB to populate Asset Panda, then checked against other spreadsheets
and reports to ensure accuracy before use.
QR Code/Barcode Support: Asset Panda contains a QR code and barcode feature
that generates printable sheets of codes, allowing users to tag their physical
assets. Managed Services could potentially use this feature to tag each client’s
servers – then, when on-site, Managed Services team members can simply scan the
server’s tag on their mobile device to access the server’s information within Asset
Panda. This further streamlines the process, and reduces the possibility of human
error. This feature can be used when adding a new server to the system as well –
the user can simply scan the barcode or QR code into the “Server ID” field.
Figure 2 – Hypothetical “Server” Object in Asset Panda
Figure 2 is an example of what a
server might look like in Asset Panda.
Users can enter a Server ID, Name,
Client, Storage and Memory Capacity,
Location, OS, Software Configuration,
and miscellaneous notes for each server
(and indicate whether it is a physical or
virtual resource, and whether it’s been
decomissioned). Managed Services
team members can perform actions by
clicking an action button (e.g. “Repair”)
while on site with the client, eliminating
concerns of whether information is
up-to-date.
6

7
II – Structure
Asset Panda’s default configuration contains three objects relevant to the Managed
Services Department: “Areas,” “Locations,” and “Assets.” Areas are groups of
Locations, and Locations are attributes of Assets (containing a name, address, and
other fields). These relationships are illustrated in Figure 3:
Area
Location
Location
Asset
Asset
Client
Location
Location
Server
Server
Figure 3 – Hierarchy of Default Objects in Asset Panda
(arrows flow from higher order objects to dependent objects)
Figure 4 – Hierarchy of Customized Objects in Asset Panda
This configuration can be easily edited to reflect the relationships between Clients,
Locations, and Servers. Cerner has many clients with multiple locations, and each
location may contain many servers. This relationship is illustrated below in Figure 4:
To configure Asset Panda as illustrated in Figure 4, the user must navigate to the
“Group Settings” page. By clicking on “Edit” for the groups “Area” and “Assets,”
the user can change the name of the group to “Client” and “Servers,” and for
Servers, add and edit the various fields/variables that need to be managed (e.g.
“Hardware Specifications,” “Operating System,” etc.). The following page contains
screenshots of this process.

8
Figure 5 – Location of
“Group Settings” Page
in Asset Panda
Figure 6 – Default Group Names in Asset Panda
Figure 7 – Updated Group Names in Asset Panda
II – Structure (cont’d)
The figures below contain hypothetical “Client” and “Location” objects in
Asset Panda. Refer to Figure 2 on page 6 for a hypothetical “Server” object.
Figure 8 – Hypothetical Client in Asset Panda
(comprised of two locations)
Figure 9 – Hypothetical Location in Asset Panda

III – An Improved Management Process
The figures below contain activity diagrams, detailing how Managed Systems team
members might use Asset Panda to manage server information.
9
Figure 10 – Asset Panda Notifies a User of Routine Server Maintenance

III – An Improved Management Process (cont’d)
10
Figure 11 – User Accesses Asset Panda through Cerner’s Network

11
III – An Improved Management Process (cont’d)
Figure 12 – User Accesses Asset Panda through Secure VPN

Risks and Mitigation
12
We have identified three main risks for Cerner implementing Asset Panda as a
Server Information Management System – (1) security, (2) data migration/integration,
and (3) acceptance by Managed Systems team members. The probability and impact
of these risks is detailed in Figure 13. This is followed by a discussion of these risks,
and mitigation strategies.
Probability
Impact
User Acceptance
Data
Migration /
Integration
Security
Figure 13 – Probability and
Impact Chart of Project Risks
User Acceptance: this is a low-probability, high-impact risk. Though we do not
believe the Managed Systems team will reject Asset Panda due to its usability,
features, and flexibility, this project’s success hinges on its proper use in the client
server management process. We suggest conducting extensive user testing as a
mitigation strategy, in order to ensure that the team will use Asset Panda in practice.
Data Migration/Integration: this is a medium-probability, medium-impact risk.
Asset Panda’s website does not discuss how much they charge for integration or
data migration on their website, and it is not clear whether CMDB could be used to
host the back-end data. As a mitigation strategy, we recommend consulting a
representative of Asset Panda.
Security: this is a medium-probability, low-impact risk. Though users can access
Asset Panda remotely through the Citrix VPN Portal, it is not clear whether users of
the mobile application will be able to do so securely – depending on Cerner’s
security practices, it may or may not be feasible to use the QR code scanning
function (since it requires the use of a mobile device). Since this information is not
critical (i.e. a security breach would have very little impact for Cerner or its clients),
Asset Panda’s default security is not necessarily a major concern. As a mitigation
strategy, we suggest consulting a representative of Asset Panda, as well as other
organizations that have used their services to see if any have suffered security
breaches.

Budget
13
A standard edition of Asset Panda, with 1,500 assets (Managed Services’ servers),
costs $1,699 yearly. Using Asset Panda would reduce the amount of time spent (per
week per employee) on managing server information from about 1.5 hours to about
30 min, resulting in a total savings of $34,701 per year. This figure does not take
into account the costs of implementation. Below is a table of estimated expenses for
implementation and the first year of use.
Component Estimated Cost
Asset Panda Subscription
(1500 assets)
$1,699
Integration and/or
Data Migration
$200
Project Planning Labor
– one week, one full-time
employee
$1,400
Implementation Labor (i.e.
configuring Asset Panda)
– one week, one full-time
employee
$1,400
Total $4,699
Figure 14 – Estimated Implementation and First Year of Use Costs
This prelimenary budget assumes that one employee can spend one week
planning, and one week implementing Asset Panda. Taking into account
implementation costs, this project’s ROI during the first year will be about $31,701.
Each following year, Asset Panda will save Managed Systems $34,701, because of the
amount of time this system can save team members.

Conclusions
14
For the reasons discussed earlier – its features, usability, and capacity to streamline
the managed server information management process – we recommend
implementing Asset Panda within the Managed Systems Department. This would
cost approximately $4,699 during the first year, and would save approximately
$34, 701 yearly. Though risks present themselves in the areas of user acceptance,
data migration/integration, and security, we believe that the benefits of this project
outweigh these risks, especially if mitigated. The authors of this proposal can be
contacted at the e-mail addresses and phone numbers listed on page 3 for further
inquiry.

Server and Asset Management System Project Proposal

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