Best Practice: Reconcile the Bill with Agency Consumption Reports

The agency should always begin consumption management of GETS services by reviewing and understanding the reports that document its use of these services and reconciling that information with its monthly invoice. For server services, the agency should review the Volume Charges and Trend (VCT) Report and Invoice Detail Report for Servers and Storage that includes:

  • Agency Name and Cost Center
  • Resource Description
  • Server Host Name
  • Server Instance Name
  • Rate and Amount Charged
  • Invoice Number
  • Usage Dates

If a potential discrepancy is identified, the agency should first match the expected change with the invoice collection date. Some services do not roll off the agency’s bill for almost two months depending on the request date.

Once the agency determines that the discrepancy was not caused by the invoice collection date, the agency should submit a dispute to using the Finance tab in the Remedy Service Request Catalog.

Best Practice: Select Server Type and Complexity Based on Agency Business Needs and Requirements

When an agency upgrades application servers or considers servers for a new project, the agency should consider its requirements for the application (including requirements of contracted third-party vendors) and use the server complexity matrix above to guide the selection of server type and complexity.

Note: System architecture significantly impacts server complexity. For example, if an application has been load balanced or if it is running in a Microsoft Cluster Service, that server would be a high complexity server.

Best Practice: Decommission Replaced Servers

Once an agency upgrades to new servers or existing servers are refreshed, it is imperative that the “old” servers are decommissioned. Otherwise, they continue to incur HSCs and/or server complexity RUs. The agency should verify that the old servers are removed from the invoice.

Best Practice: Follow Best Practices for LAN Attached Device RU

The LAN attached device RU is charged for each active, connected end user computing device. The agency should follow best practices for consumption of EUC devices to minimize this cost.

Best Practice: Delete Unused Email Accounts

Each agency email account incurs an RU. Deleting unnecessary email accounts reduces an agency’s costs for email accounts hosted in Office 365.