Platform Tour

This tour provides an overview of the key areas of the platform to help you quickly navigate and utilize its full capabilities for infrastructure cost modeling and TCO analysis.

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1. Dashboard

The Dashboard is your home base. From here, you can:

• View recent environments and TCO analyses

• Track modeling activity across your workspace

• Access shared projects and collaboration history

• Monitor in-progress “Analysis as a Service” (AaaS) requests

📌 Use filters to quickly find models by project name, customer, or infrastructure type.

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2. Catalogs

The Catalogs section is where you’ll find preloaded reference data used in cost modeling. It includes:

Servers (Highlight each catalog)

• Reference configurations for Intel x86, IBM Power9, and Power10 systems

• Pre-populated specs for CPU, memory, storage, and support pricing

• Editable entries to reflect negotiated enterprise pricing

Cloud (Highlight each catalog, future ones "say coming soon")

• Current pricing for AWS, Azure, and GCP compute, storage, and reserved instances

• Region-specific pricing support

• Options for applying enterprise discounts and custom pricing tiers

Software (Software categories)

• Licensing options for Windows Server, Red Hat, Oracle, WebSphere, and others

• Supports multiple licensing models (BYOL, subscription, SPLA, etc.)

• Metered usage tracking for license enforcement and budgeting

• Application Software (includes database, middleware, enterprise software catalogs)

🛠️ You can customize catalog entries to align with real-world pricing and support agreements.

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3. Requesting an Analysis as a Service

If you prefer expert support:

1. Go to Analysis as a Service.

2. Submit a request with basic details:

   • Environment type (e.g., Power9 to Power11, VMware to cloud)

   • Scope and timeframe

   • Attach any supporting documentation or server inventories

3. Our modeling team will deliver a fully built environment and TCO analysis, ready for review.

📅 Typical turnaround: 1–2 business days.

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4. Creating an Environment

To begin modeling:

1. Navigate to Environments and click New Environment.

2. Choose one of the following:

   • Start from Scratch

   • Start from Template (e.g., Power9 vs. Power11 Refresh)

   • Import from CSV for bulk server inventories

3. Name your environment and assign it to a workspace or project.

💡 Templates provide a fast starting point with preconfigured hardware, licensing, and cost assumptions.

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5. Adding a Target Environment

For comparison purposes, most models include both a current and future state:

1. Within your environment, click Add Target.

2. Choose to:

   • Duplicate and modify the baseline

   • Add a new target from scratch

   • Import from a different scenario or template

3. Adjust hardware specs, software, cloud configuration, or licensing to reflect your intended refresh or migration.

🔁 Use this to model side-by-side scenarios (e.g., On-Prem vs Cloud, Power9 vs Power11).

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6. Creating a TCO Analysis

To evaluate costs:

1. Go to your environment and click Add TCO Analysis.

2. Select two or more configurations to compare.

3. Set parameters:

   • Analysis term (e.g., 3 or 5 years)

   • Discount rate, inflation, depreciation method

   • Optional costs: power/cooling, facilities, staff labor

4. Run the analysis and review:

   • Total and annualized cost breakdowns

   • Hardware, software, cloud, and support costs

   • Charts and tables to visualize ROI and deltas

📤 Export the report to PDF or Excel for internal or client-facing documentation.