Towers and Sub Towers represent the IT view of costs. Towers are categories that describe the technology functions which are supported by that IT spend. Through Towers, IT leaders can assess the cost-effectiveness of IT Technology & service delivery.
Data Center
Facilities to House Computer Equipment
Enterprise Data Center
Data Centre facilities that house and protect critical IT equipment.
e.g. Space, Power consumption, Racks, Cabling
Other Facilities
Computer Rooms or IT Closets in corporate buildings, call centers etc
Compute
Physical and virtual servers. Includes all related direct hardware, software, labour, and outside service costs
Servers
Servers running Microsoft Windows Server or Linux
Unix
Servers running vendor-specific, proprietary Unix operating systems
e.g. servers for IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, HP UX
Midrange
Servers running IBM AS/400 platform
Converged Infrastructure
Appliances that provide compute, storage, and network capabilities in one box
Mainframe
Traditional mainframe computers and operations running legacy operating systems.
High Performance Computing (HPC)
Computing & processing resources for large amount of data for research, product engineering and development, modeling etc
Storage
Centralized data storage
Online Storage
Central storage such as SAN, NAS. Includes the equipment, software, and labor to run and operate.
Offline Storage
Archive, backup & recovery resources to support data loss, data corruption, disaster recovery & compliance requirements.
Mainframe Online Storage
Mainframe attached storage arrays
Mainframe Offline Storage
Archive, backup & recovery resources for support data loss, data corruption, disaster recovery & compliance requirements of the mainframe storage.
Network
Data and voice equipment. Includes labour & support services
LAN/WAN
Network connecting equipment in data centers and to connect end users in office
Voice
Equipment for voice services
eg. PBX, VoIP, voicemail, and handsets
Transport
Data network circuits and associated access facilities & services
Platform
Distributed and mainframe databases and middleware systems
Database
Distributed database services focused on the physical database
Middleware
Distributed platform, application and system integration resources which enable cross application development, communications, and information sharing
Mainframe Database
Mainframe database services focused on the physical database
Mainframe Middleware
Mainframe platform, application and system integration resources enabling cross application development, communications, and information sharing
Container Orchestration
Tools and resources for managing the lifecycles of containers.
Big Data
Integrating, managing and analyzing high volumes of data
Output
Printing Costs
Central Print
High-volume printing costs.
e.g. printing of customer bills, product documentation or other customer support materials
End User
Devices and support used by end users. Includes costs to build, manage and run
Workspace
Devices used by individuals to perform work
e.g. physical desktops, portable laptops, thin client machines, peripherals
Mobile Devices
Mobiles used by individuals
e.g. tablets, smart phones and apps
End User Software
Software used by individuals to perform work
Network Printers
Printers connected to networks or to end users
Conferencing & AV
Audio & video conferencing equipment
IT Help Desk
Centralized help desk resources that handle user requests and resolve issues
Deskside Support
Local support resources that provide on-site support for moves, adds, changes and hands on issue resolution
Application
Application cost. Includes the cost of software and the costs to develop, manage and run applications
Application Development
Application development project costs - analysis, design, development, code, test and release packaging services etc
Application Support & Operations
Operations, support, fix, and minor enhancements for existing applications
Business Software
Licensing, maintenance and support of off-the-shelf software
Delivery
Monitoring, support, management, and IT operations for the business
IT Service Management
Incident, problem, and change management activities
Program, Product & Project Management
Managing and supporting IT related projects and/or continuous product development
Client Management
Account managers who understand business needs, communicate IT products, services, and status of IT projects
Operations Center
Centralized IT Operations Center resources including monitoring and intervention
e.g. NOC (network operations center), GOC (global operations center)
Security & Compliance
IT security compliance & disaster recovery
Security
Setting policy, establishing process and means, measuring compliance and responding to security breaches and providing real-time operational security
e.g. vulnerability scanning, managing firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and security information and event management (SIEM)
Compliance
Setting policy, establishing controls, and measuring compliance to relevant legal and compliance requirements
Disaster Recovery
Setting disaster recovery (DR) policy, dedicated failover facilities, and performing DR testing
IT Management
Overall management, strategy, and planning of IT department in a business
IT Management & Strategic Planning
Management & administration costs
e.g. CIO, senior IT leaders and administrative support
Enterprise Architecture
Specifying and managing business, information, application, and technical architecture
IT Finance
Planning, budgeting, spend management & chargeback of IT expenditures
