Bruce Higgins Jr
Strategies
Michael Baker deploys new process to bring its hardware, software purchases under control
Pittsburgh Business Times by Maria Guzzo
Date: Monday, June 2, 2003, 12:00am EDT
Michael Baker didn't get to be the Pittsburgh region's largest engineering firm by losing track of customer orders and requests for its engineering and environmental design services.
But when it came to internal inventory of the Moon Township-based firm's computers and related software, it had lost track, costing the company money and time. Bruce Higgins, Michael Baker's digital services director, said employees had not been happy with the response time when ordering information technology hardware and software through the firm's previous purchase process.
"So people in our business units were going to their local Comp USAs and filing their purchases on their expense reports," he said. "It was a very broken process of how we were ordering."
Other employees ended up ordering computers over the phone, with vendors faxing back purchase orders.
"We weren't leveraging our buying power or using economies of scale," Mr. Higgins said. "It was completely inefficient." And with 4,200 people in 36 offices, including 800 locally, Michael Baker utilized thousands of computers and software programs.
It began centralizing its computer buying and management 18 months ago.
After an assessment of multiple bidders, it purchased software and services from Herndon, Va.- based ePlus Inc. The engineering firm now not only buys and leases computers from ePlus, it uses ePlus software to track its computers, licenses and maintenance agreements.
Mr. Higgins could not put a price tag on how much the company lost over the years or how much it has saved with the new process.
Strategies
Michael Baker deploys new process to bring its hardware, software purchases under control
Pittsburgh Business Times by Maria Guzzo
Date: Monday, June 2, 2003, 12:00am EDT
Michael Baker didn't get to be the Pittsburgh region's largest engineering firm by losing track of customer orders and requests for its engineering and environmental design services.
But when it came to internal inventory of the Moon Township-based firm's computers and related software, it had lost track, costing the company money and time. Bruce Higgins, Michael Baker's digital services director, said employees had not been happy with the response time when ordering information technology hardware and software through the firm's previous purchase process.
"So people in our business units were going to their local Comp USAs and filing their purchases on their expense reports," he said. "It was a very broken process of how we were ordering."
Other employees ended up ordering computers over the phone, with vendors faxing back purchase orders.
"We weren't leveraging our buying power or using economies of scale," Mr. Higgins said. "It was completely inefficient." And with 4,200 people in 36 offices, including 800 locally, Michael Baker utilized thousands of computers and software programs.
It began centralizing its computer buying and management 18 months ago.
After an assessment of multiple bidders, it purchased software and services from Herndon, Va.- based ePlus Inc. The engineering firm now not only buys and leases computers from ePlus, it uses ePlus software to track its computers, licenses and maintenance agreements.
Mr. Higgins could not put a price tag on how much the company lost over the years or how much it has saved with the new process.
"It wasn't a budget issue," he said. "It was more of a process issue."
But, he said the ePlus system eliminated most of the maverick buying. Employees now request hardware and software from their desk top. The order is evaluated and delivered much more quickly, he said.
ORGANIZING THE CHAOS
Mr. Higgins said the new method also has reduced the cost of ownership. Michael Baker had been doing a mix of buying and leasing computers but wasn't managing the lease agreements to determine when they, and their maintenance and warranty agreements, expired. The company now has begun returning leased computers instead of buying them or continuing the leases on a month-to-month basis.
He said Baker now knows when to renew maintenance agreements instead of finding out after the fact that they had expired.
"It's a proactive approach instead of a reactive approach," Mr. Higgins said.
It reorganized and consolidated multiple IT departments into one department in Pittsburgh called digital services. And it reduced the number of staff involved in the procurement process, allowing workers to be redeployed to focus on auditing compliance.
"Six months ago when a Microsoft audit came, it was a simple process," Mr. Higgins said. Michael Baker consolidated the number of hardware and software vendors from 3,000 to 200.
"We began to see how we were leveraging our buying power," he said.
Having less software and hardware also has helped the company's computer technicians, since there are fewer products with which they must familiarize themselves. Kley Parkhurst, ePlus senior vice president, said technology research firm the Gartner Group has shown that 75 percent of a computer's overall cost is not the original purchase price but what it costs a company over time.
MULTIPLE LINES, COMPETITORS
With 550 employees, ePlus does not have a Pittsburgh office.
"Maybe we ought to," said Mr. Parkhurst. "Our main salesman in Pittsburgh is from Pittsburgh, but he lives in northern Virginia."
In addition to Michael Baker, local customers include PPG Industries Inc. and Alcoa Inc.
EPlus has many competitors in all aspects of its business. Despite that, it pulls in $250 million revenue annually.
But, he said the ePlus system eliminated most of the maverick buying. Employees now request hardware and software from their desk top. The order is evaluated and delivered much more quickly, he said.
ORGANIZING THE CHAOS
Mr. Higgins said the new method also has reduced the cost of ownership. Michael Baker had been doing a mix of buying and leasing computers but wasn't managing the lease agreements to determine when they, and their maintenance and warranty agreements, expired. The company now has begun returning leased computers instead of buying them or continuing the leases on a month-to-month basis.
He said Baker now knows when to renew maintenance agreements instead of finding out after the fact that they had expired.
"It's a proactive approach instead of a reactive approach," Mr. Higgins said.
It reorganized and consolidated multiple IT departments into one department in Pittsburgh called digital services. And it reduced the number of staff involved in the procurement process, allowing workers to be redeployed to focus on auditing compliance.
"Six months ago when a Microsoft audit came, it was a simple process," Mr. Higgins said. Michael Baker consolidated the number of hardware and software vendors from 3,000 to 200.
"We began to see how we were leveraging our buying power," he said.
Having less software and hardware also has helped the company's computer technicians, since there are fewer products with which they must familiarize themselves. Kley Parkhurst, ePlus senior vice president, said technology research firm the Gartner Group has shown that 75 percent of a computer's overall cost is not the original purchase price but what it costs a company over time.
MULTIPLE LINES, COMPETITORS
With 550 employees, ePlus does not have a Pittsburgh office.
"Maybe we ought to," said Mr. Parkhurst. "Our main salesman in Pittsburgh is from Pittsburgh, but he lives in northern Virginia."
In addition to Michael Baker, local customers include PPG Industries Inc. and Alcoa Inc.
EPlus has many competitors in all aspects of its business. Despite that, it pulls in $250 million revenue annually.
EPlus offers an e-procurement software program that competes with big guns like Downtown-
based FreeMarkets, Pleasanton, Calif.-based Commerce One Inc. and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based
Ariba Corp. Mr. Higgins said Michael Baker sought bids from all those companies during its
assessment.
EPlus also offers software that competes with San Diego-based Peregrine Systems Inc. and Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates Inc. (through its purchase of Robinson Township- based Janus Technologies) to keep track of computers and licenses that a business owns and leases.
Its newest division is based on a software program that allows companies to compile multiple IT product catalogs and scroll through all the products at once to find what 's needed.
"It's a huge value for us doing all this from a one-stop shop," Mr. Higgins said. "It enabled us to make more informed decisions around management of assets."
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2003/06/02/smallb1.html
EPlus also offers software that competes with San Diego-based Peregrine Systems Inc. and Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates Inc. (through its purchase of Robinson Township- based Janus Technologies) to keep track of computers and licenses that a business owns and leases.
Its newest division is based on a software program that allows companies to compile multiple IT product catalogs and scroll through all the products at once to find what 's needed.
"It's a huge value for us doing all this from a one-stop shop," Mr. Higgins said. "It enabled us to make more informed decisions around management of assets."
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2003/06/02/smallb1.html
