Matching Solutions with Requirements

Dr Mark I. Williams @drmiw

Managing DirectorMuon Consulting Ltd

@drmiw #ScotCloud

Cloud computing: As easy as SPI?

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Any/Everything as a service (XaaS)

Communications as a service (CaaS) orUnified Communications as a service (UCaaS)Desktop as a service (DaaS)Disaster Recovery as a service (DRaaS)Information as a Service (Info-aaS)Monitoring as a service (MaaS)Network as a service (NaaS)Storage as a service (SaaS or STaaS)

@drmiw #ScotCloud

5 steps to cloud success

InvestigationEvaluationDecisionImplementationIteration

@drmiw #ScotCloud

5 steps to cloud success

1. Investigation2. Evaluation3. Decision4. Implementation5. Iteration

I’ll only talk about steps 1 to 3 today…

@drmiw #ScotCloud

Step 1: Investigation

Business review – e.g. SMARTA objectives; employee utilisation; customer surveys; process documentation & analysisInformation governance, controls and riskIT systems – TCO; capabilities & limitationsEducate, engage and encourage staff to rethink what they do and consider cloudList potential problems/opportunities

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Step 1 continued: Problem selection

Positive impact criteria Score

Urgency of problem 1 – 5

Customer pain due to problem 0 – 5

Financial savings from cloud 0 – 5

Team interest and/or buy-in 0 – 5

Management interest/support 0 – 5

Total positive impact (P): 1 – 25

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Negative impact criteria Score

Difficulty of solving in cloud 1 – 5

Resources required 0 – 5

Effect on other systems 0 – 5

Time required to solve 0 – 5

Data sensitivity and/or risk 0 – 5

Total negative impact (N): 1 – 25

Impact criteria rating ( 1 – 25) = P / N

Step 2: Evaluation

Genuine business case?Business critical?Sensitive data involved?Gather detailed requirements for chosen problem with relevant staff and stakeholdersPrioritise functionality – e.g. MoSCoW methodDocument characteristics and get sign-offFind matching cloud solution/s that tick boxes

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Step 2: Technical choices

Off-the-shelf software → SaaS Look for web services interfaces to facilitate integration

Customizable software → PaaS Choose best match for in-house skills, beware vendor

lock-in, and look for ready-made plug-in applications

Complete control over application servers → IaaS Consider portability of virtual machines

Sensitive data → Private or hybrid cloud

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Step 2 continued: Solution selection

Will cloud service integrate well with other systems?Are SLA; security; expected system availability; client references; and measured QoS acceptable? Satisfactory answers to data protection questions?Following best practices for IT service management?Independently certified systems and processes?Easy to migrate to another provider’s cloud?Affordable service costs for max expected usage?

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Step 2 continued: Service costs

SaaS → Monthly application cost per user per month Minimum number of users? Different editions? Data storage costs?

PaaS → user numbers; app numbers; in/out bandwidth; compute time; database objects; storageIaaS → server spec; number of servers; compute hours; file storage; in/out bandwidth; IP addressesAdditional charges? E.g. software licenses; operating systems; third-party services; data

transfer on contract termination; taxes

@drmiw #ScotCloud

You want fries with that?

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£

Step 3: Decision

True cloud cost includes internal costs for evaluation, testing, documentation & trainingWill solution deliver ROI and fit present & future requirements?Will business users be more productive and less reliant on internal IT staff?Could you do it better and cheaper? Really?Are risks understood and acceptable?

@drmiw #ScotCloud

Step 3 continued: Risk calculator

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Concluding remarks

Three top tips:1. Always engage stakeholders and get sign-off2. Start small but think big, keeping future systems

integration, agility and IT strategy in mind3. Create an exit plan and make sure it works!

Remember: You are responsible for data protectionNeed help? Email miw@muon.co.uk

@drmiw #ScotCloud