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Sparkhound Consulting Services Overview 2020

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Ron Ellis
Ron Ellis

Sparkhound provides a range of consulting services including strategy and analytics, infrastructure services, business automation, application services, business transformation, and managed services. They help clients improve business outcomes through digital engagement and innovation. Some of their key services include data and analytics, cloud strategy and implementation, collaboration platforms, business process automation, and application development.

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Services Overview 1 Improving business outcomes through a culture of innovation and digital engagement Ron Ellis, General Manager 713.397.9895 | ron.ellis@Sparkhound.com
20+ years in, and we still have that startup energy 4 region offices 250+ sparkies and growing 300+ clients served Business Transformation Digital and IT Strategy Process Optimization Organizational Effectiveness Project Services Data and Analytics Business Intelligence and Data Visualization Predictive Modeling and Machine Learning Design and Optimization Digital Enablement Cloud Strategy and Implementation Software Engineering and DevOps Collaboration Platforms IT Service Management and Business Automation Managed Services Tier 1 and Tier 2 Help Desk Post Go-Live Support Natural Disaster Recovery Mobilization Engaged through the entire technology lifecycle 2
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Strategy and Analytics 3 Sparkhound Strategy and Analytics services deliver outcomes with greater certainty by enabling our clients to make intelligent, on-the-fly course correction using analytics-driven applications aligned to critical business processes. Our consultants define the strategic framework built around guiding principles to ensure that the highest value can be derived from each effort. Strategy Consulting Data Management and Visualization Business Intelligence and Reporting Advanced Analytics
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Strategy and Analytics 4 Sparkhound Strategy and Analytics services deliver outcomes with greater certainty by enabling our clients to make intelligent, on-the-fly course correction using analytics-driven applications aligned to critical business processes. Our consultants define the strategic framework built around guiding principles to ensure that the highest value can be derived from each effort. Strategy Consulting Data Management and Visualization Business Intelligence and Reporting Advanced Analytics
Confidential for internal use only CHALLENGE SOLUTION IMPACT 5 Operationally, turnover causes capacity challenges, reduces revenue, and shrinks the bottom line. Culturally, turnover erodes team membership, can decrease employee engagement, and flatten overall morale. With turnover negatively impacting their operational and cultural domains, our client sought to better understand how to control the costly effects of unwanted turnover through an interactive analytics solution. After meeting with our client’s HR team to build a thorough understanding of end-to-end hiring, team member growth, and retention processes, Sparkhound successfully designed and deployed an interactive analytics solution for them. By pulling data in real-time from a SQL 2017 data warehouse with functionally enforced row-level security, Sparkhound’s analytics solution for our client’s turnover challenges included a turnover risk indicator based on a custom-built, logistic regression model embedded in a PowerBI dashboard. Thanks to Sparkhound’s solution, our client now has a process for efficiently detecting and reducing an estimated $1 million annually in unwanted turnover as they continue to scale their $2 billion business. Increasing employee retention and decreasing operational, financial, and cultural costs associated with unwanted turnover could mean a 5-10% impact on top and bottom-line results. CLIENT SUCCESS Caliber Collision Centers: Predictive Analytics
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Infrastructure Services Sparkhound Infrastructure Services enable digital & cloud transformation, allowing our clients to realize their business objectives. Our deeply skilled and flexible consultants deliver cost-efficient, scalable, flexible, and secure solutions for our clients and their customers. Cloud Transformation Cybersecurity Infrastructure Management Messaging & Communications Mobility & Security Networking 6
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Infrastructure Services Sparkhound Infrastructure Services enable digital & cloud transformation, allowing our clients to realize their business objectives. Our deeply skilled and flexible consultants deliver cost-efficient, scalable, flexible, and secure solutions for our clients and their customers. Cloud Transformation Cybersecurity Infrastructure Management Messaging & Communications Mobility & Security Networking 7
Confidential for internal use only CHALLENGE SOLUTION IMPACT CLIENT SUCCESS Legacy, On-Premise App Migration to AWS 8 This large upstream energy company has multiple offices distributed across the globe, each running their own servers, databases, and applications. Their WellView™ application runs on legacy infrastructure and for a growing oil company, scaling the application to additional sites and users became a challenge. The WellView database stores information related to all aspects of the oilwell lifecycle including information collecting, analyzing, monitoring, and reporting. Each office location included multiple SQL servers and frontend servers for a total of 85 servers and 10 WellView instances. Sparkhound suggested consolidating the physical WellView environment into a fully-managed application streaming service from AWS called AppStream. Working side-by-side with the company’s DBAs and WellView application owners, Sparkhound created a major, detailed digital transformation plan into the AWS cloud while tagging, monitoring and measuring WellView’s new cloud streaming process to all associated desktops. Leveraging AppStream, the oil company was able to fully scale and stream WellView in the AWS cloud to all user desktops — in every office — without acquiring, provisioning and adding additional operating hardware. They were able to consolidate 85 SQL servers down to 15 and one instance lowering over IT costs and adding more agility. With Sparkhound’s assistance, the upstream oil company simplified their WellView application delivery by consolidating their on-prem hardware, enabling them to stream the application from cloud. The benefits of the WellView cloud migration soon became apparent as the company was able to downsize its physical IT infrastructure by 70% while realizing faster application performance and the redundancies inherently built into the AWS cloud. Additional benefits included: Optimized Application Production Improved Cost and Operational Efficiencies Reduced Software Licenses and Maintenance Costs
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Business Automation Business Automation connects people and information to realize business objectives. Our skilled consultants apply leading technologies to solve business problems with an intent focus on user experience and the business outcome. Business Process Automation Collaboration and Productivity Content Management Systems IT Service Management Managed Services 9
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Business Automation Business Automation connects people and information to realize business objectives. Our skilled consultants apply leading technologies to solve business problems with an intent focus on user experience and the business outcome. Business Process Automation Collaboration and Productivity Content Management Systems IT Service Management Managed Services 10
Confidential for internal use only SOLUTION SUCCESS Intranet (EntryPoint) PSAV PSAV requested a newly-designed intranet site to serve as a hub for communications, resources and interaction. Created using EntryPoint, the new site offered a central repository for announcements and articles, career opportunities, Yammer feeds, and a global team member search among others. By centralizing communications, email “noise” was dramatically reduced. The metadata incorporated allowed technicians to search for reference materials critical to daily operations instead of relying on tribal knowledge. The site also drastically improved communications and sharing of ideas, due to a versatile, auto-fill people directory, in some cases saving associates hours per day. 11
Confidential for internal use only 12 PRACTICE OVERVIEW Application Services Leveraging technical acumen, best practice methodology, and our entrepreneurial spirit, Sparkhound’s Application Services develop solutions that make a difference. Application Lifecycle Management & DevOps Cloud Computing Data Design & Management Mobile and Client Apps Emerging Technologies
Confidential for internal use only 13 PRACTICE OVERVIEW Application Services Leveraging technical acumen, best practice methodology, and our entrepreneurial spirit, Sparkhound’s Application Services develop solutions that make a difference. Application Lifecycle Management & DevOps Cloud Computing Data Design & Management Mobile and Client Apps Emerging Technologies
Confidential for internal use only SOLUTION SUCCESS Application Services LAFAYETTE GENERAL HEALTH Lafayette General Health (LGH) needed an iOS and Android application for patients to find the nearest hospitals, Emergency Room wait times, doctors by their specialties, and illness concentrations by geography. Our expertise with cross-platform development using Xamarin enabled us to deliver two mobile applications at a cost savings to LGH. 14
Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Business Transformation Sparkhound Business Transformation partners with clients to identify, plan for, and execute business strategies & solutions. Our depth and breadth of experience allows us to use industry best practices, proven methodologies, and strategic innovations to find the right approach for each client. Project Management Project Management Offices and Centers of Excellence Organizational Change Management Fractional CIO Strategy 15
Confidential for internal use only CHALLENGE SOLUTION IMPACT 16 In Q4 2016, executive leadership identified 23 improvement initiatives to help the Finance organization become “first in class” based on an audit done by an outside consulting firm. These initiatives ranged in complexity from simple process optimization and documentation to full systems implementations and integrations. However, leadership determined that to cut costs they would manage and execute all the initiatives using internal Murphy resources. We set up and managed a Finance Project Management Office (PMO) to organize, standardize, and report on all 23 initiatives. This included reviewing the scope, timeline, and required resources for all initiatives, structure and standards for the management and execution of scope, project and program level reporting and executive communication cadence. Additionally, we supported Murphy employees that wanted to manage their own projects as well as the management of projects that did not have a designated Murphy owner. We provided Organizational Change Management support for initiatives with greater communication needs, substantial change impacts, or higher risk of user adoption challenges. The successful assessment, execution and/or consolidation of 46 initiatives were completed within just 18 months. The Project Management Office also conducted multiple Benefits Realization exercises for the program that identified 72 tangible and intangible benefits totaling $42,000,000 and 7,200 man-hours of savings for the department in 2017 and 2018. CLIENT SUCCESS Murphy Oil Corporation
PRACTICE OVERVIEW Managed Services Leveraging Sparkhound Managed Services, our clients’ are able to repurpose their existing staff to focus on more value added activities in support of their corporate strategies. This increased focus on driving out commoditized support, not only lowers the overall cost of ownership but also frees IT to be more strategic when it comes to digital enablement where it matters, in the business. Confidential for internal use only 17
Confidential for internal use only 18 PRACTICE OVERVIEW Managed Services WHAT WE DO We help clients refocus their technology teams on more value-added activities by providing relief from ongoing support requests. Capabilities: 24x7 Tier 1 Helpdesk A single-point of contact to our U.S.-based technicians available 24x7 for incident triage, resolution, and/or escalation. 24x7 Tier 1 Helpdesk + Tier 2 Support Adds support for more involved incidents requiring deeper know-how and expertise. 24x7 Remote Monitoring Around-the-clock monitoring of system alerts and notifications for triage, validation, and proper escalation to the correct team. One-Time Helpdesk Support Provides one-time helpdesk services designed to bolster IT support during high-demand, large-scale system changes. Case Study: LCMC Health: Our team helped bring 5 recently-merged hospitals together onto our managed help desk solution – a single point of contact for all personnel across the five facilities. Sparkhound’s help desk solution has been instrumental in unifying the new hospital system all while improving customer satisfaction scores, resolution metrics, and reducing overall costs.
SOLUTION SUCCESS Managed Services LCMC HEALTH SYSTEM Confidential for internal use only LCMC needed to bring five very disparate hospital systems together under a single help desk solution. Additionally, they were launching a complex, new Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system and needed intensive support during the changeover. Under a tight timeframe, we implemented a Tier 1 solution that exceeded metrics while reducing LCMC’s help desk operating costs by more than 25%. “Our goal was to do more with less and they definitely achieved that for us. They understand what makes healthcare tick.” Martin Prince AVP of IT Operations 19

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Sparkhound Consulting Services Overview 2020

  • 1. Services Overview 1 Improving business outcomes through a culture of innovation and digital engagement Ron Ellis, General Manager 713.397.9895 | ron.ellis@Sparkhound.com
  • 2. 20+ years in, and we still have that startup energy 4 region offices 250+ sparkies and growing 300+ clients served Business Transformation Digital and IT Strategy Process Optimization Organizational Effectiveness Project Services Data and Analytics Business Intelligence and Data Visualization Predictive Modeling and Machine Learning Design and Optimization Digital Enablement Cloud Strategy and Implementation Software Engineering and DevOps Collaboration Platforms IT Service Management and Business Automation Managed Services Tier 1 and Tier 2 Help Desk Post Go-Live Support Natural Disaster Recovery Mobilization Engaged through the entire technology lifecycle 2
  • 3. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Strategy and Analytics 3 Sparkhound Strategy and Analytics services deliver outcomes with greater certainty by enabling our clients to make intelligent, on-the-fly course correction using analytics-driven applications aligned to critical business processes. Our consultants define the strategic framework built around guiding principles to ensure that the highest value can be derived from each effort. Strategy Consulting Data Management and Visualization Business Intelligence and Reporting Advanced Analytics
  • 4. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Strategy and Analytics 4 Sparkhound Strategy and Analytics services deliver outcomes with greater certainty by enabling our clients to make intelligent, on-the-fly course correction using analytics-driven applications aligned to critical business processes. Our consultants define the strategic framework built around guiding principles to ensure that the highest value can be derived from each effort. Strategy Consulting Data Management and Visualization Business Intelligence and Reporting Advanced Analytics
  • 5. Confidential for internal use only CHALLENGE SOLUTION IMPACT 5 Operationally, turnover causes capacity challenges, reduces revenue, and shrinks the bottom line. Culturally, turnover erodes team membership, can decrease employee engagement, and flatten overall morale. With turnover negatively impacting their operational and cultural domains, our client sought to better understand how to control the costly effects of unwanted turnover through an interactive analytics solution. After meeting with our client’s HR team to build a thorough understanding of end-to-end hiring, team member growth, and retention processes, Sparkhound successfully designed and deployed an interactive analytics solution for them. By pulling data in real-time from a SQL 2017 data warehouse with functionally enforced row-level security, Sparkhound’s analytics solution for our client’s turnover challenges included a turnover risk indicator based on a custom-built, logistic regression model embedded in a PowerBI dashboard. Thanks to Sparkhound’s solution, our client now has a process for efficiently detecting and reducing an estimated $1 million annually in unwanted turnover as they continue to scale their $2 billion business. Increasing employee retention and decreasing operational, financial, and cultural costs associated with unwanted turnover could mean a 5-10% impact on top and bottom-line results. CLIENT SUCCESS Caliber Collision Centers: Predictive Analytics
  • 6. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Infrastructure Services Sparkhound Infrastructure Services enable digital & cloud transformation, allowing our clients to realize their business objectives. Our deeply skilled and flexible consultants deliver cost-efficient, scalable, flexible, and secure solutions for our clients and their customers. Cloud Transformation Cybersecurity Infrastructure Management Messaging & Communications Mobility & Security Networking 6
  • 7. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Infrastructure Services Sparkhound Infrastructure Services enable digital & cloud transformation, allowing our clients to realize their business objectives. Our deeply skilled and flexible consultants deliver cost-efficient, scalable, flexible, and secure solutions for our clients and their customers. Cloud Transformation Cybersecurity Infrastructure Management Messaging & Communications Mobility & Security Networking 7
  • 8. Confidential for internal use only CHALLENGE SOLUTION IMPACT CLIENT SUCCESS Legacy, On-Premise App Migration to AWS 8 This large upstream energy company has multiple offices distributed across the globe, each running their own servers, databases, and applications. Their WellView™ application runs on legacy infrastructure and for a growing oil company, scaling the application to additional sites and users became a challenge. The WellView database stores information related to all aspects of the oilwell lifecycle including information collecting, analyzing, monitoring, and reporting. Each office location included multiple SQL servers and frontend servers for a total of 85 servers and 10 WellView instances. Sparkhound suggested consolidating the physical WellView environment into a fully-managed application streaming service from AWS called AppStream. Working side-by-side with the company’s DBAs and WellView application owners, Sparkhound created a major, detailed digital transformation plan into the AWS cloud while tagging, monitoring and measuring WellView’s new cloud streaming process to all associated desktops. Leveraging AppStream, the oil company was able to fully scale and stream WellView in the AWS cloud to all user desktops — in every office — without acquiring, provisioning and adding additional operating hardware. They were able to consolidate 85 SQL servers down to 15 and one instance lowering over IT costs and adding more agility. With Sparkhound’s assistance, the upstream oil company simplified their WellView application delivery by consolidating their on-prem hardware, enabling them to stream the application from cloud. The benefits of the WellView cloud migration soon became apparent as the company was able to downsize its physical IT infrastructure by 70% while realizing faster application performance and the redundancies inherently built into the AWS cloud. Additional benefits included: Optimized Application Production Improved Cost and Operational Efficiencies Reduced Software Licenses and Maintenance Costs
  • 9. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Business Automation Business Automation connects people and information to realize business objectives. Our skilled consultants apply leading technologies to solve business problems with an intent focus on user experience and the business outcome. Business Process Automation Collaboration and Productivity Content Management Systems IT Service Management Managed Services 9
  • 10. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Business Automation Business Automation connects people and information to realize business objectives. Our skilled consultants apply leading technologies to solve business problems with an intent focus on user experience and the business outcome. Business Process Automation Collaboration and Productivity Content Management Systems IT Service Management Managed Services 10
  • 11. Confidential for internal use only SOLUTION SUCCESS Intranet (EntryPoint) PSAV PSAV requested a newly-designed intranet site to serve as a hub for communications, resources and interaction. Created using EntryPoint, the new site offered a central repository for announcements and articles, career opportunities, Yammer feeds, and a global team member search among others. By centralizing communications, email “noise” was dramatically reduced. The metadata incorporated allowed technicians to search for reference materials critical to daily operations instead of relying on tribal knowledge. The site also drastically improved communications and sharing of ideas, due to a versatile, auto-fill people directory, in some cases saving associates hours per day. 11
  • 12. Confidential for internal use only 12 PRACTICE OVERVIEW Application Services Leveraging technical acumen, best practice methodology, and our entrepreneurial spirit, Sparkhound’s Application Services develop solutions that make a difference. Application Lifecycle Management & DevOps Cloud Computing Data Design & Management Mobile and Client Apps Emerging Technologies
  • 13. Confidential for internal use only 13 PRACTICE OVERVIEW Application Services Leveraging technical acumen, best practice methodology, and our entrepreneurial spirit, Sparkhound’s Application Services develop solutions that make a difference. Application Lifecycle Management & DevOps Cloud Computing Data Design & Management Mobile and Client Apps Emerging Technologies
  • 14. Confidential for internal use only SOLUTION SUCCESS Application Services LAFAYETTE GENERAL HEALTH Lafayette General Health (LGH) needed an iOS and Android application for patients to find the nearest hospitals, Emergency Room wait times, doctors by their specialties, and illness concentrations by geography. Our expertise with cross-platform development using Xamarin enabled us to deliver two mobile applications at a cost savings to LGH. 14
  • 15. Confidential for internal use only PRACTICE OVERVIEW Business Transformation Sparkhound Business Transformation partners with clients to identify, plan for, and execute business strategies & solutions. Our depth and breadth of experience allows us to use industry best practices, proven methodologies, and strategic innovations to find the right approach for each client. Project Management Project Management Offices and Centers of Excellence Organizational Change Management Fractional CIO Strategy 15
  • 16. Confidential for internal use only CHALLENGE SOLUTION IMPACT 16 In Q4 2016, executive leadership identified 23 improvement initiatives to help the Finance organization become “first in class” based on an audit done by an outside consulting firm. These initiatives ranged in complexity from simple process optimization and documentation to full systems implementations and integrations. However, leadership determined that to cut costs they would manage and execute all the initiatives using internal Murphy resources. We set up and managed a Finance Project Management Office (PMO) to organize, standardize, and report on all 23 initiatives. This included reviewing the scope, timeline, and required resources for all initiatives, structure and standards for the management and execution of scope, project and program level reporting and executive communication cadence. Additionally, we supported Murphy employees that wanted to manage their own projects as well as the management of projects that did not have a designated Murphy owner. We provided Organizational Change Management support for initiatives with greater communication needs, substantial change impacts, or higher risk of user adoption challenges. The successful assessment, execution and/or consolidation of 46 initiatives were completed within just 18 months. The Project Management Office also conducted multiple Benefits Realization exercises for the program that identified 72 tangible and intangible benefits totaling $42,000,000 and 7,200 man-hours of savings for the department in 2017 and 2018. CLIENT SUCCESS Murphy Oil Corporation
  • 17. PRACTICE OVERVIEW Managed Services Leveraging Sparkhound Managed Services, our clients’ are able to repurpose their existing staff to focus on more value added activities in support of their corporate strategies. This increased focus on driving out commoditized support, not only lowers the overall cost of ownership but also frees IT to be more strategic when it comes to digital enablement where it matters, in the business. Confidential for internal use only 17
  • 18. Confidential for internal use only 18 PRACTICE OVERVIEW Managed Services WHAT WE DO We help clients refocus their technology teams on more value-added activities by providing relief from ongoing support requests. Capabilities: 24x7 Tier 1 Helpdesk A single-point of contact to our U.S.-based technicians available 24x7 for incident triage, resolution, and/or escalation. 24x7 Tier 1 Helpdesk + Tier 2 Support Adds support for more involved incidents requiring deeper know-how and expertise. 24x7 Remote Monitoring Around-the-clock monitoring of system alerts and notifications for triage, validation, and proper escalation to the correct team. One-Time Helpdesk Support Provides one-time helpdesk services designed to bolster IT support during high-demand, large-scale system changes. Case Study: LCMC Health: Our team helped bring 5 recently-merged hospitals together onto our managed help desk solution – a single point of contact for all personnel across the five facilities. Sparkhound’s help desk solution has been instrumental in unifying the new hospital system all while improving customer satisfaction scores, resolution metrics, and reducing overall costs.
  • 19. SOLUTION SUCCESS Managed Services LCMC HEALTH SYSTEM Confidential for internal use only LCMC needed to bring five very disparate hospital systems together under a single help desk solution. Additionally, they were launching a complex, new Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system and needed intensive support during the changeover. Under a tight timeframe, we implemented a Tier 1 solution that exceeded metrics while reducing LCMC’s help desk operating costs by more than 25%. “Our goal was to do more with less and they definitely achieved that for us. They understand what makes healthcare tick.” Martin Prince AVP of IT Operations 19