Storyboard: Effectively Manage Cloud Vendors

Author(s): Laura Hansen-Kohls, Brian Frank, Thamjeeth Gaffoor

Complications

  • The cloud has become an enticing answer for a lot of business users who are opting into cloud services with little to no input from IT. This increases the level of risk to the business.
  • The increased movement to the cloud is creating a shift in IT responsibilities, dialing back skills in infrastructure and applications, while ramping up business analysis and vendor management skills.

Resolutions

  • Establish good vendor management practices that can be adapted to the cloud by understanding the unique risks and challenges the cloud presents.
  • Pay special attention to establishing business requirements upfront, managing contract and service level expectations, monitoring good performance, and understanding the risks – avoidable or not – unique to the cloud.