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 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.
Is Your Organization Ready for the Cloud?
White Paper |
Category: Strategy & Business Case Cloud Computing Cloud Sourcing
Sweeping change is difficult for any organization. But in an industry such as insurance whose operations are tethered to a complicated aggregation of legacy systems, will the organization's ability to adapt and embrace cloud-based technology be especially challenging?
Incorporating any new technology into an embedded business infrastructure is always difficult. But multiply the risk in an industry whose infrastructure is typically comprised of myriad platforms serving a plethora of products subject to a range of regulation, and it's possible to get a sense for the considerable challenges faced by the insurance industry.
Cloud-based products represent the industry's greatest opportunity to move the dial forward. Implementation of private or public clouds in conjunction with a SaaS delivery model is a fast, cost-effective strategy to keep legacy systems current, and support ever-changing products and services by linking disparate channels and products, distribution and claims. And, as the insurance industry moves to embrace new mobility channels, working within a cloud framework is certainly the only way to tap into customer segments that cannot be reached through more traditional channels. Cloud not only provides the ability to reach users via channels they prefer, but can also support an insurer's efforts to retain brand salience.
Cloud's implications for the insurance IT organization are considerable. Despite the emphasis upon cloud computing and SaaS over the past few years, the insurance industry is still a slow mover. Seemingly, a number of questions are still open: are the products truly fit-for-purpose? How will cloud's adoption change the way the department functions – are new capabilities required? Will the landscape of providers change dramatically? How can risks be best assessed and managed?
With cloud-based applications readily available, the question is not whether cloud is right for the insurance industry, it becomes a question as to when the IT function is ready to deal effectively with the implications of cloud.
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