How does one achieve five 9′s (99.999%) uptime or better in today’s crazy IT world?  Easy.  Have backups for your backups and have at least two of everything.

Okay, so maybe it’s easier said than done and perhaps that is an egregious oversimplification. The bottom line, however, is basically that’s how AssurX has achieved not five 9′s but a perfect 100% uptime for CATSWeb OnDemand systems for two years running.

We have multiple redundancies in all our critical infrastructure systems: at least two of everything.  We have everything from multiple pipes to the Internet to multiple fire suppression systems.  There are multiples of all server types; web servers, application servers, database servers, backup servers. There are multiples of all components of the servers; multiple drives in RAID arrays, multiple network cards, multiple power supplies, multiple CPUs.   There are redundant monitoring systems, monitoring internally and externally the availability of CATSWeb and we are notified immediately when something is wrong.  Fortunately (knock on wood), we’ve yet to experience this scenario outside of testing.

Our data center is the same way.  There are redundant heating and cooling systems, redundant fire suppression systems, redundant UPS systems, redundant generators and everything is in “hot standby” mode, meaning if one fails, the other takes over without missing a beat.   The network employs at least three major telecom providers for separate and redundant backbones to the Internet.

To someone unfamiliar with the true meaning of “mission critical”, all this sounds like overkill. Doesn’t having two (or more) of everything make life more difficult?  Simple answer is, yes, life is more complicated with two of everything.  There are the requirements of extra space, extra maintenance, extra power consumption, extra time for install/management/decommission of software packages and extra man hours spent working on all these redundant systems.  Does it make financial sense?  Absolutely!  Just the same as one has homeowner’s insurance, car insurance, health insurance or life insurance, what redundancy means to an IT department is data and connectivity insurance.  For hosted systems like CATSWeb OnDemand, it means happy customers who always get to their data, day or night.  For IT guys like me it means peaceful, easy sleep and less hair loss.

At the end of the day, the simple fact is that AssurX has achieved something truly difficult in the IT world; 100% uptime, two years running.  This is something major players, like Yahoo, eBay, Google, Amazon and many others cannot claim.  We are proud of our commitment to hosting CATSWeb for our customers and will continue to implement new and better ways to achieve and maintain the best possible uptime numbers and availability as we forge ahead.

So, you’re evaluating software packages and request a sales demonstration.  During this demonstration the sales rep is going to focus your attention on the cool, “shiny” aspects of their system and there will likely be a lot of “talk” about how the software can be implemented to meet your requirements.  The key question you want to ask is “how”.  How will this software be configured to meet those requirements?

This is where the 80/20 rule comes into play.  The best case scenario is that the software you purchase will only meet 80% of your requirements and that the other 20% will have to be achieved through some sort of customization, modification, or configuration.  In some instances the gap could be much greater.  The key then is to figure out how that 20+% are accomplished.  Here are three questions to ask:

1. Is the base code altered?
2. Who performs the customizations?
3. How do these customizations affect future upgrades?

There is a difference between customization and configuration.  Customization implies code changes.  Customization is also generally done by the vendor.  Some vendors consider this their bread and butter.  They’re basically selling you half a system and then charging you to create the other half.  Customization can also prevent you from applying future upgrades without shelling out even more money to the vendor to reapply your customizations.  Configuration implies no code changes and is generally performed by you, the customer.  As such, configuration changes should not affect future upgrades.  However, again the key words here are “should not”.

This goes to the substance of the system.  The best systems in the market are the ones that allow you, the customer, to perform configuration changes on your own.  Keep in mind that this is not only a factor for your initial implementation, but also for future growth and change of the business requirements.  Maybe the vendor will only charge a nominal fee for the initial customizations, but what happens when your requirements change?

Having been involved in a myriad of software purchases, I can tell you that the differences between packages can be great.  At a former employer of mine we implemented a document control system that probably only met 60% of our initial requirements.  However, the business unit was wowed by what they did see, and therefore we were pushed to approve it.  When it came time to do the implementation, the next 40% of the requirements needed customization, which meant that the vendor provided core code changes.  Jump ahead five years now.  Several upgrades have come out from the vendor and the business decides its time to look at upgrading.  Do you see where this is going?  In order to apply the upgrades all of the customizations would have to be evaluated and then re-created after the upgrade.  Care to guess how much the vendor wanted to perform this job?  We’re talking at least high six figures.

So take it from someone who has been there and done that.  Make sure you get straight information from the vendor regarding configuration vs. customization.  Your initial cost of purchase may seem very attractive, but the long-term total cost of ownership may end up being extremely high.

When you think about going to a new restaurant or buying a new car, how do you approach making your choice? Chances are, you do some quick online research looking for what others have said, and then you ask friends and family if they know anything about the prospective dinner spot or new set of wheels.

Turns out that’s probably a pretty good way to select an IT vendor, too. That’s what a $4,500 study from IDC recently discovered: Small (under 100 employees) and mid-size (between 100 and 1000) say word-of-mouth is the way they usually learn about a new IT product and the vendor selling it.

According to IDC:

Word of mouth is most often cited by small businesses (SBs) and medium-sized businesses (MBs) as how they initially become aware of IT products, technology, and suppliers. However, vendor Web sites and word of mouth tie for first place as a source of more detailed information for both SBs and MBs.

What it means for you: Customer case studies loom large as one of the best indicators that an IT vendor and their product are right for you.

If you’ve got $4,500 to spend, you can get the IDC study here at http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=217419. But if this already tracks with your experience, we advise you that the next time you kick the tires with a new vendor, you ask to see their porfolio of customer case studies, or better yet, talk to their customers!

Makes sense, right?