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 Demand Management - How to Align Stakeholders and Deliver on Promises
White Paper |
Category: Transition & Governance IT Infrastructure & Applications Finance & Accounting Services...
Demand management is not a new discipline. A clear understanding of labor, materials and service requirements is essential in order to have predictable delivery of any finished product. Traditional manufacturing businesses have had this process down pat for over 100 years. Information Technology (IT) organizations have employed variations of formal demand management methods since the 1960’s. IT organizations today have well-structured processes focused on prioritized expenditures, key resources and satisfied customers. In the last decade, sophisticated applications have hit the market containing logic that "understands" the dynamics of multi-source demand, business prioritization, budget accountability and the resource management necessary to get the work done. One of the first and most important steps to implementing a demand management structure with built-in accountability is establishing a process and tool to monitor, adjust, and govern the decisions surrounding how to best satisfy the inflow of new requests for service.
A demand planning model is designed to serve as a macro-level demand reporting and planning tool. A typical demand planning model is comprised of three key work categories, including: strategic initiatives, discretionary projects, and operational "run" activities, delivered internally or through an outsourcing arrangement. The overall goal is to establish an annual plan with an appropriate workforce mix and resource pyramid to meet investment objectives. On a monthly basis, creating a view into resource consumption allows a comparison to the planned year-to-date investment plan.
The objectives of demand management and the detailed planning processes that enable it are focused on managing the collection, prioritization and approval for new IT services and service upgrades. Operational service organizations are the delivery units for the approved demand and thus play a crucial role in the overall success of a demand management solution. As soon as both sides of the business request cycle are aligned around managing demand within approved budgets, resource constraints and committed timelines, the world of IT becomes a less stressful, more predictable place for customers and delivery teams alike. The objectives of demand management and the detailed planning processes that enable it are focused on managing the collection, prioritization and approval for new IT services and service upgrades. Operational service organizations are the delivery units for the approved demand and thus play a crucial role in the overall success of a demand management solution.
This white paper discusses how to get both sides of the business request cycle aligned around managing demand within approved budgets, resource constraints and committed timelines, making the world of IT a less stressful, more predictable place for customers and delivery teams alike.
Cloud Computing: The Oregon Trail of Today
White Paper |
Category: Strategy & Business Case Cloud Computing Cloud Sourcing
Currently, many brave pioneers are starting on their journey towards the Cloud but, to safely and successfully make the voyage they must carefully plan each step, anticipating the unexpected along the way. Before heading 'Cloudward,' these pioneers must decide:
- Are we qualified to make the Cloud journey?
- If so, what route should we take?
- What provisions are necessary to make the trip successful?
- And finally, why is the journey to the Cloud more important than the destination?
 7 Things to Know About Migrating to the Cloud
eNews |
Category: Strategy & Business Case Cloud Computing Cloud Sourcing
There are significant benefits to adopting a cloud sourcing strategy. Economic viability is seen by many companies as a front-runner in making the determination to move forward with cloud sourcing.
While shifting from a CAPEX to an OPEX model is justification enough for some, there are seven not-so-common factors you should consider before adopting a cloud sourcing strategy, including:
1. Understand your current outsourcing relationships - Be conscious of the effect adopting a cloud sourcing strategy may have on your current provider relationship as that level of change could potentially be seen as a bad thing.
2. Determine gaps in support - Is your current service management operation able to cope with adding more vendors with various SLAs into the matrix?
3. Focus on the right services - Focus on commodity and niche services in the short term (these are considered the low hanging fruit within IT)
4. Examine current cost models - Most cloud vendors base their cost models on a consumption basis, so for test and development workloads, where the load is actually hours per week/month, the cost is significantly less
5. Determine the right delivery model - Focus on private cloud or virtual data centers
6. Identify commodity hardware - In most cases, migrating the workload from old to new hardware is simple, fast, and extremely reliable.
7. Conduct an employee current skills assessment - Adopting a cloud sourcing strategy will stress the existing enterprise architecture teams, and vendor management organizations to a great degree
This article covers, in detail, those seven not-so-common factors to consider before adopting a cloud sourcing strategy.
Drafting ITO Contracts in the Cloud
White Paper |
Category: Strategy & Business Case Negotiations / Renegotiations Cloud Computing...
Alsbridge predicts Cloud-based delivery of applications will account for half of the market within 5 years and outsourcing e-mail as a service will be routine within 2 years.
The key to all successful outsourcing relationships is the quality and flexibility of the commercial agreement between the customer and the supplier. An IT outsourcing contract can be anything from a highly complex and weighty document to a shorter ‘consumer’ style arrangement, but either way it is crucial to all outsourcing relationships as it provides the legal framework between the organizations involved.
As with contracting for traditional ITO services, a detailed understanding of service provision and delivery is vital before entering into Cloud-based contractual commitments.
However, as contracting for services in the Cloud becomes the new standard, it will require a different set of contracting principles and a new basis for customer and supplier relationships. It is a case of adapt or die; those slowest to market will be left behind.
An IT outsourcing contract must stand the test of time, which means that it continues to meet both parties’ expectations during the lifetime of the ITO contract, not just at the start or key milestones.
This paper defines the key principles for what constitutes a ‘good’ contract and deal management organization in the current outsourcing landscape, and addresses the key challenges for ITO contracts in the future Cloud-based, on-demand IT and business services environment.
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