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What is Application Hosting…
• Increasingly popular practice of outsourcing software applications to 3rd Party providers
• Alternative to managing applications in-house• Involves your software applications residing on
3rd party servers• Provides access to your application from
anywhere in the world
Benefits…
• No Up Front Hardware Capital costs• No budgeting necessary for unpredictable
maintenance• Predictability of IT Budget – monthly costs are
known• Access to application from anywhere • Data located in secured data center• Redundancy and Server Protection Features• Offsite Storage of backup tapes
Benefits…
• No need for expensive Servers, IT consultants, Internal Upgrade costs
• Focus on Core IT Competencies• Remove mundane day-to-day IT work• WERCS Regulatory Subscription Upgrades• All WERCS® Software Release Upgrades
Experience…
• First Hosted Customer in 2002• Servers located within TimeWarner Telecom co-location
facility• Co-Locaton = “WERC servers are installed on the
TimeWarner premises. Management of WERCS servers remains in the hands WERCS”
• Facility located minutes from WERCS Headquarters• TimeWarner leading provider in 44 major U.S. markets /
strong reputation / financial stability• Scalable solution• Technical backup support
Hosting Facility…
• Three separate fiber routes into building• Fiber network via SONET technology• Concrete & Steel constructed facility• Two separate AC feeds backed up by 1000 KVA
generator & UPS• Lightning protection system and ground field• FM 200 fire suppression and detection system• 24X7 monitoring and production • Video Surveillance / Biometrics Access
Hosting Server / Data…
• Redundant Power Supply and NICs• Raid 5 / Hot swap hard drives• 24X7 four hour response from manufacture on hardware• Hardware replacement guarantee• Full nightly backups on 2 week rotation• Restoration of all data within 14 hours of a disruption• Offsite storage of backup tapes with Iron Mountain• Periodic security audits and monitor for security
vulnerabilities
Periodic Security Audit…
• Security concerns can quickly erode customer confidence
• “External Infrastructure and Application Security Assessment” performed in October 2006
• Purpose– Identify Vulnerabilities– Evaluate WERCS seriousness– Communicate any risks
Security Audit Results…
• Summary– External Infrastructure = Risk Rating “LOW”– Application Assessment = Risk Rating “Nil”
• Recommendations were provided during Audit process– Recommendations were taken under consideration
and appropriately implemented
Are you a Candidate?
• Difficulty relying on Internal IT Infrastructure• Internal Costs for maintaining applications rising• Internal Costs for Upgrades prohibitive• Limited IT Resources
Hosting Case Study Example…
Challenge:• Limited/Strained Internal IT SourcesWPS Response:• WERCS Application Hosted at Secured WERCS hosting Facility
(TimeWarner)• WERCS staff performs routine updates, backups, maintenance on
WERCS applications • WERCS performs routine server maintenance, operating system
updates• WERCS staff does quarterly regulatory updatesResult: • Significant Reduction of Internal IT Costs / High ROI• Seamless to customer• Stable and Well Tuned Solution
Performance / Uptime…
• Performance Goal is 95% System Availability• Since 2002 99.99% Uptime• 1 Unexpected Downtime since 2002 (45minutes)• All Maintenance and Upgrades are down in Non-
Business Hours or Holidays