Delta Group

Above a certain size, every business has processes that cannot be properly served by off-the-shelf software. Such cases call for custom development.  Over the past decade, Delta experts have participated in numerous software development projects both in the public and the private sector.

Delta Group’s custom developments range from integrated electronic administration systems to business software covering specific areas and even solutions supporting R&D in pharmaceutical chemistry.

When developing custom applications, the Group considers the specific task together with the customer’s organisation and IT environment to select the appropriate development methodology, technology and tools. Delta builds on frameworks extensively, so the resulting solution remains flexible and customizable, while they can perform development much more efficiently compared to starting from scratch. This approach results in faster development cycles, shorter testing phases and a lower technology risk for the projects.

Delta’s multivendor service unit offers an ideal opportunity for any company to fully manage its heterogeneous office and/or IT technology infrastructure, either under a comprehensive agreement or on an individual basis. The operation of office and information technology have become more and more similar during the past years, due to the changes in both the technology and the business environment.

Today’s classical “desktop environment” includes personal printers and multifunction equipment serving entire workgroups. Companies want to control the operational costs of their infrastructure. So in the case of equipment that from the business point of view belongs to the same cost category, they rightfully expect their service providers to support daily operation through a single system.

Daily operation involves not only fixing random malfunctions within the agreed response times, but also preventive maintenance performed at regular intervals as scheduled by the equipment vendor or – as in the case of printers – based on usage levels.

Delta is a Level 1 warranty service partner to the best-known desktop hardware vendors like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Canon, Lexmark, Samsung and Toshiba, who provide regular training to their service technicians. So the personnel are fully capable and certified to perform repairs during and after the warranty period, as well as preventive maintenance.

IT investment – with no upfront expenditure. This can be part of the Delta Group offering for customers. The economic crisis forces everyone – market players and government institutions alike – to tighten their budgets and plan expenditures very carefully. However, cost savings must not jeopardize the business.

A sudden breakdown of some equipment or the unexpected need for replacing it, or problems due to heterogeneous hardware infrastructure, the lack of storage space, running out of available ports etc. are all problems that must be resolved even when the budget is tight.

Some state-of-the-art IT systems are already capable to predict certain types of errors; however, even with this technology it is not always possible to be adequately prepared for such foreseeable problems. If a system breakdown occurs under circumstances for which you do not have a contingency plan in place, recovery may cost a lot of money, effort, and other losses due to system outage. Yet you can avoid all these huge risks even if you have no funds available to purchase new hardware and solutions immediately. This is especially true for business-critical equipment and systems directly related to key processes, where any outage causes loss of revenue or a direct financial loss.

Delta Group offers customers two special means for financing investment:
1. Delayed investment via temporary lease
The company owns a significant number of equipment used for demonstration purposes, which can be made available to customers for use on an OPEX cost basis. Delta Group proposes this solution whenever investment funds are already allocated and will be made available at some later time, but the investment cannot be made earlier than scheduled.
2. Equal distribution of investment costs over time
Customers can purchase new equipment on an OPEX basis via other solutions, as well. Several options are available from simple lease through operative lease to payment in instalments or deferred payment. Usually Delta Group proposes such solutions when customers are committed to investing but do not want to budget and finance their investment on a CAPEX basis; instead, they prefer pay-as-you-go, i.e. pay back the investment gradually as revenues flow in.

A sudden breakdown of some equipment or the unexpected need for replacing it, or problems due to heterogeneous hardware infrastructure, the lack of storage space, running out of available ports etc. are all problems that must be resolved even when the budget is tight.

DOCUSYS
Based on the experience and feedback of thousands of customers so far, Delta created the DocuSys framework for the optimisation of printing practices and enterprise printing assets.  DocuSys brings real savings to all businesses, from SMEs to large companies with a country-wide network.

Over the years, Delta has accumulated vast experience with customers and their requirements. They have distilled this knowledge into a framework for analysing printing practices, called DocuSys. It applies systematic criteria that include rules of thumb for optimisation and carefully consider the needs of the users and the Customer. It supports the optimisation of printing assets and practices for companies of all sizes, from SMEs to multi-site companies with a country-wide network. Optimisation also covers the IT aspects of the printing subsystems, and its systemic approach provides recommendations for modernisation, as well. Through an application deployed on the print server, different document creation policies, personal or organisational quotas can be defined, which result in tangible cost savings.

DOKNET
dokNET, Delta Group’s intelligent document management system developed in-house offers a complete solution to the document management challenges of any business from public service entities to small, medium or large enterprises. The software is fully certified and compliant with the requirements of decree 24/2006 BM-IHM-NKÖM.

It is difficult to determine the current life expectancy of a company’s document creation assets at any given point of time, because of significant variations in the workload and in the original time of purchase. Should a company decide to reduce operating expenses and to refresh its equipment, the current situation needs to be assessed via a printing consolidation audit. This must be a forward-looking and long-term audit that proposes a comprehensive solution for the next 3 to 5 years.

Delta has over 25 years of experience with office technology solutions. Therefore if customers want to use 21st century state-of-the-art and cost-efficient office technology, the company can be a suitable partner for planning, performing and evaluating a customized audit and in implementing the results.

Greenfield investments are rare, they often occur only once in a company’s lifetime. Information technology is just a part of the whole investment, but its good planning and cost-efficient implementation can be key factors in the success of the entire project. Planning and carrying out a greenfield investment is a complex exercise, and IT is usually not the largest budget item.

Yet today, IT impacts almost all business areas: most of communication takes place via e-mail; phones have become fully functional mail clients in the corporate e-mail system; production lines are controlled by servers; and all internal and external information required for running the business is stored in central storage facilities. Information technology is just as much important for the success of any greenfield project as architecture or organisation development.

IT design should start along with the overall planning of the project. Building an efficient technology environment takes much more than a few weeks; therefore IT systems design should be part of the whole planning process as a separate chapter in the project plan.
Business processes and specific activities that will require IT support once the greenfield investment is completed must be clearly identified.

• Required applications
• Number of users
• Security requirements
• Data storage capacity
• How to align information technology with business processes; its business continuity impact

During architectural design, the location of the server room, and its power and heat dissipation requirements must be identified and quantified, as these values will basically determine monthly operation costs. During the design process, we need to find out how the different components will affect each other and identify external requirements, such as environmental considerations, regulatory compliance, or the standards and requirements of the parent company.

From the smallest components to the whole complex solution, IT should support the ROI of the entire project. Delta consistently applies this business-focused approach to IT investment.

Human progress always follows the development of technology and the practical application of scientific achievements. In the Middle Ages, battles were won by the warrior who had more and better weapons to pierce the opponent’s thick armour – or later, by those whose cannons carried farther. This is no different in today’s business world.

The weapons of the modern age are: knowledge created from information, and the underlying information technology that is the sole key enabler of this process. As an active repository for all information, IT is the only tool capable of storing, organising, calculating, analysing and converting into knowledge the unconceivable and seemingly unmanageable wealth of data required to respond to our changing environment in real-time. Information technology is today’s gunsmith that, if used well, ensures us an edge to pierce the competition’s armour and find the gaps to penetrate into consumer fortresses.

The above points explain why it is so important to invest in IT development. The question is, however, when it pays off to invest and in which areas. If we go into the details, it becomes evident that the following aspects can be improved: system availability, processing and storage capacity, networking, security, cooling and ventilation, the sophistication of software solutions, and the quality of those value-added services that will drive your business. Each vendor has its own technology that it advocates as the sole solution without any trade-offs. But what do I really need?

As an independent systems integrator, the Delta Group is familiar with all the technologies available on the market, has many years of experience, and can assist customers in choosing the technology areas and tools with which they can achieve results that make a difference – when applied correctly. Delta takes pride in having been able to implement many high-visibility IT projects by doing almost nothing else but re-aligning and restructuring existing resources. The company knows that IT development is not an end in itself. It is not about implementing new technologies just because they are already out there, but is dictated by some actual business requirement. It may be a very simple thing, like the need for more successful market presence.

Efficiency is a basic requirement for every business and organisation. The efficient work of employees, the productivity of manufacturing, the efficient use of available assets are all key success factors. IT infrastructure is also a similar asset that can be consolidated from time to time to make its operation more efficient and to streamline the efforts for its maintenance.

In some areas, the benefits of consolidation or the resulting efficiencies are difficult to measure, and depend on many subjective factors that are all internal to the business. IT consolidation basically means using fewer assets and utilising resources more efficiently. The resulting cost savings can be forecasted and quantified relatively easily. Since a consolidation effort usually involves modernisation as well, we can safely say that the result will be better technology at a lower cost.

A major IT consolidation project involves most of the core infrastructure layers, or at least will greatly affect them. For example, server consolidation not only affects your server farm, but also reduces the need for software licenses or the cooling capacity required for the server room. Network consolidation not only offers obvious manageability and transparency benefits, but also creates an opportunity for a comprehensive IT security audit.

The main generic, measurable and expected results of consolidation include:
• More transparent and manageable infrastructure
• Less personnel required for daily operation
• Lower physical footprint
• Lower power and cooling requirements

Consolidation – especially server consolidation – is usually tied to the implementation or further development of some kind of virtualisation technology. Virtualization increases opportunities and future gain. However, consolidation is only a first (and recurring) step towards flexible and adaptable IT.

Delta’s experts have accumulated significant experience over the past years in different consolidation projects. As a result, the company has built an infrastructure environment that meets customers’ highest expectations and serves their companies’ interests more efficiently.

Public transportation is one of the most recent and dynamically progressing fields of IT developments. IT plays an increasingly vital role in the planning, operation and control of transportation. Public transportation companies need to be able to track and locate vehicles (GPS position), to measure parameters such as fuel level, speed, or the condition of the air conditioning system, and to record and retrieve these data. They use the available data to improve planning accuracy as well as to monitor and change plans during the year.

Real-time data collectionis indispensable for the fast and efficient management of disruptions. Public transportation drivers use On Board Units to track their momentary position against the schedule.

To increase the appeal of public transportation, it is important to provide dynamic passenger information (for example through electronic information boards, voice-based passenger information systems, or online and mobile applications suited to modern needs). Information is provided at each stop to the blind and visually impaired through the voice-based passenger information system. Information kiosks and ticket vending machines can be installed at major terminals. Surveillance systems at terminals and on buses are designed to ensure the security of passengers, while free WiFi on vehicles can be provided for convenience.