BSCA Chooses Dell for Cost Savings, Better Service

Aiming to reduce expenses and get a better deal on service provider quality, Blue Shield of California (BSCA, San Francisco) has chosen Dell (Austin, TX) as a systems and services provider. As part of the deal, Dell will replace BSCA's existing desktop and notebook computers. Dell also will consolidate BSCA's server and storage network. BSCA is expected to save $700,000 annually as a result of the deal.

"The arrangement with Dell is predicated on the belief that BSCA will receive superior service," says Dave Bowen, senior vice president and chief information officer, BSCA. Bowen expressed dissatisfaction with the health insurance company's previous service provider, which he declined to identify.

Dell will take a programmatic approach to the replacement of the BSCA equipment. "An assessment of the desktops and notebooks will determine which will be replaced," says Bowen. The timetable by which BSCA's existing computers will be replaced will be determined based on the length of time they've been in use and their processing speed. All of the hardware, however, will be replaced within the next four years.

On the server and storage side, Dell will consolidate 126 existing BSCA servers to 40 Dell PowerEdge servers, configured into a Dell PowerVault storage area network (SAN). According to Bowen, the number of servers that BSCA utilizes has grown over time because of the addition of business units and applications. "We have numerous small servers and they are expensive to manage and maintain," he explains.