1. Platform Rationalization
Reduce IT cost and complexity
What does your IT budget look like?
Everyone is talking IT budget these days. Would you be
surprised to find out that on average, companies spend
roughly 70 percent of IT budgets on maintenance and
operations, with just about 30 percent going to new projects?
For more information about consulting and support offerings from
Microsoft, contact your Microsoft Services representative or visit
www.microsoft.com/services.
Discover How Agile Your Company Can Be

2. Forget Cost Center. Try Business
Enabler on for Size.
By slimming down the IT environment through
consolidation and judicious retirement of legacy
systems, you will make IT leaner, more
manageable, and better able to support critical
business goals. Microsoft Services Platform
Rationalization details which consolidation and
migration efforts will have the greatest impact
on your organization, helping transform your
IT department from a cost center into a critical
business enabler.
Demonstrate Stewardship in a Time
of Cost Cutting
“Business as usual” seldom works during economic
downturns. Business leaders everywhere are
considering their options for making the most
of available resources. Microsoft Services
Platform Rationalization is a wise investment
that demonstrates commitment to financial
responsibility and business value on the part of
the IT organization. Furthermore, the Microsoft
Services Platform Rationalization engagement
facilitates communication within the IT
organization so that resources are used most
appropriately.
Work Directly with the People Who
Know Microsoft Best
No one knows Microsoft products and technology
better than Microsoft. Microsoft Services Platform
Rationalization provides you with the best advice
and insight for organizations heavily invested
in Microsoft products and technology. Highly
trained Microsoft Services architecture and
planning advisors match that technical knowledge
with the cumulative experience of hundreds of
engagements worldwide. The result is a proven
approach to platform rationalization that uses
patented intellectual property and draws on
unique insight into the Microsoft technology road
map.
Build on the Latest Expertise from
Microsoft Services and Watch Where
Your Business Will Go
Over the course of six to eight weeks, you will
work directly with an architecture and planning
advisor to determine how your IT environment
can be rationalized to better meet the needs of
your business. To augment his or her expertise,
the advisor has access to a range of other expert
Microsoft resources on an as-needed basis. This
way, you get a full range of expertise without
incurring the expense of a whole cadre of
consultants.
The Assessment
Based on interviews with key stakeholders and a
thorough understanding of your business and IT,
your architecture and planning advisor will provide
an assessment of your IT environment that
includes:
• IT service-level expectation gap analysis
• Architecture assessment
• Business alignment prioritization
• IT asset portfolio management recommendations
A Customized Road Map
Building on the assessment, Microsoft Services will
create a platform rationalization road map tailored
to your organization’s specific needs. This road
map will lay out a range of options with clear links
to cost, time, and value—everything you need
to present a strong business case for platform
rationalization.
The road map will make recommendations on the
role of systems integrators and beneficial Microsoft
Services offerings enabling platform rationalization
and may include options for any of the following:
• Consolidation
• Standardization
• Centralization
• Virtualization
• Security improvements
• Process optimization
• Shared services
• Legacy application and mainframe migrations
Discover Technology Solutions That Can Keep
Up with the Twists and Turns of Business
Move Your Business Forward with Microsoft Services
It’s no question that bringing new products and services to market is crucial to helping a business gain a competitive
edge. But with deflating budgets and increasingly complex IT environments, finding time to innovate, let alone keep IT
initiatives in line with business strategies, can be difficult. Organizations that have grown rapidly in the past several years
may not have had the time or opportunity to take stock of their IT portfolio and match ongoing efforts to the real needs
of the business. Fortunately, there is a solution.
Through platform rationalization, you can cut costs and redirect IT spending from maintenance and operations by
judiciously reconstituting your IT environment so that it has fewer moving parts, is more manageable, and is more
responsive to business needs. More than ever, now is the perfect time to get your IT environment in shape, removing
unnecessary cost and complexity and laying the groundwork for future business growth.
If Microsoft® products and technologies are vital to your strategy, Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization can free
your team to build on the success of your business. Microsoft Services Platform Rationalization will provide your team
with the direct expertise of an architecture and planning advisor backed by the teams who develop the software you and
your people use every day.