- Outsourcing part of your IT infrastructure is inevitable. The question is no longer about whether to outsource, but when to outsource.
- IT infrastructure outsourcing options are plentiful and growing. There are more options to outsource to the cloud than ever before, including a suitable solution for every organization.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Time your public cloud IaaS project to the infrastructure hardware refresh cycle. Don’t throw away perfectly good servers just to move to the cloud.
- Don’t blindly implement public cloud IaaS just to save money, and at the cost of performance.
- Hybrid services are hot. Providers are differentiating themselves through managed cloud services and multi-service hybrid offerings.
Impact and Result
- Assess cost and strategic fit when determining deployment decisions.
- Treat your cloud vendor as a partner – collaboration works much better than penalties do.
- Consider both current and future requirements when selecting a public cloud IaaS solution and build them into your contract.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Children's Hospitals and Clinics
Guided Implementation
7/10
N/A
N/A
MUFG Investor Services
Guided Implementation
9/10
$15,660
5
Workshop: Choose a Public Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service Partner
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Launch the Public Cloud IaaS Project and Collect Requirements
The Purpose
- Identify organizational fit and deployment method for public cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
- Create the project plan.
- Gather requirements and metrics.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Development of your organization’s public cloud IaaS requirements and metrics lists.
- Creation of a project plan that includes a high-level strategy plan.
Activities
Outputs
Conduct a strategy, use case, and driver analysis.
Create your cloud IaaS project charter.
- Documented project charter
Gather and record the team.
Identify and prioritize your cloud IaaS project goals.
Conduct a high level TCO assessment.
Evaluate features to create your requirements scorecard.
- Public cloud IaaS requirements and features list
Formulate the metrics.
- Creation of metrics for the metric scorecard
Module 2: Select Your Public Cloud IaaS Solution
The Purpose
- Discuss and complete the IaaS vendor assessment.
- Complete the IaaS RFP template.
- Contract review.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A completed vendor assessment scorecard outlining the recommended vendor(s).
- Selection of a public cloud IaaS solution.
Activities
Outputs
Evaluate vendor profiles to determine your shortlist.
Determine the weightings for criteria in your assessment tool.
Create the assessment tool scoring criteria and features.
- Completion of a custom vendor assessment scorecard with a refined scoring methodology and criteria
Plan for and conduct vendor demos.
- A structured analysis for each vendor on the shortlist
Analyze your technical short- and long-term requirements with the capacity assessment template.
- Public cloud IaaS capacity and technical requirements assessment
Integrate the scorecard requirements into an RFP.
Score the vendors on your shortlist.
Select a vendor and cloud solution.
Module 3: Plan Your Public Cloud IaaS Implementation
The Purpose
- Create an implementation plan and roadmap.
- Discuss rollout of processes and hand over to Operations.
- Review your exit strategy and communication plan.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A project implementation and communication plan.
Activities
Outputs
Establish an implementation resourcing plan.
- Implementation resourcing plan and work breakdown structure
Plan your implementation task list by looking at people, process, and technology initiatives.
Create the implementation roadmap.
- Comprehensive project roadmap
Develop a communication deck and strategy.
- A communication strategy or plan
Assess your project’s progress with the metrics scorecard tool.
- Completed metrics scorecard and evaluation of it
Formulate an exit strategy.