Case Study IT Cloud based Hosting Platform vs. On- Premise

Transcription

1 Case Study IT Cloud based Hosting Platform vs. On- Premise Digital Ship Cyprus 28 th March 2012 Success Through Teamwork

2 Project Scope Existing client/server Crew Management Application was hosted on-premise and accessed worldwide by all company offices (via Terminal Server) Both the crewing application and it s hosting hardware had reached their end of life Replacement applications had been evaluated and we opted for the Compas system

3 Initial Project Challenges Application Licensing Model (SaaS vs. Traditional licensing): Needed flexibility of system customisation and future hosting platform Final decision was a Traditional Licensing model with Cloud (Outsourced) hosting Hosting location: Requirements for both EU and Far East locations (220 users, plus third-parties) Large office in Far East with slow internet connectivity for EU bound traffic Availability of internal IT infrastructure: Mid way between hardware retirement and planned investment No suitable/available IT infrastructure to guarantee application availability Gaining Management trust and understanding: Servers operating at our company premises are more secure

4 Evaluation of Cloud Application Hosting Advantages: Reduced internal IT administration costs (SQL, Web hosting, Firewalls, Windows etc.) Reduced hardware costs for multi-site/clustered hosting (servers, firewalls, routers etc.) Simpler License Management (both Client and Server) A web-based application lends itself to a cloud hosting model Past experience from previous client/server application (Terminal Server) Singapore based hosting centre was central to all company offices ISP grade IT hosting environment (redundancy, security and support) Constant OPEX cash outflow, for hosting, vs. spiked CAPEX investments for replacement software and hardware every 4-5 years

5 Evaluation of Cloud Application Hosting Disadvantage: Data sensitivity issues (hosting hardware could be shared with your competitors) Data security issues (Is data being backed up? How often? How long to restore?) Complexity to move data in-house if hosting strategy is ever changed

6 Cost Factors On-Premise Hosting: Servers for application and database Servers for remote access (Microsoft Terminal Server / Citrix / Web Server) Hardware for remote access security (routers/firewalls) Clustered / Redundancy of hardware? Software licensing for technical layer : Server O/S Database license (server and client) Remote Access licenses (Terminal Server/Citrix) Anti-Virus, Data Backup for all servers Redundancy for internet links / power etc. Server and Client administration costs (training, deployment & upgrades) Indirect costs (electricity, floor-space, depreciation)

7 Cost Factors Cloud hosting: Monthly Fee (all-inclusive per user) Possible increase in local internet charge (for ex-on-premise hosting location) Additional costs if user volumes, or storage quota increases

8 Steps followed at Uniteam Marine Evaluated 10 year cost projection (On-premise hosting vs. Cloud Hosting): Considered two replacement cycles of hardware, refresher IT training every three years, server and Client licenses, plus depreciation of hardware and software Agreement on penalty based SLAs for response and resolution of problems of both hardware and the application Trial run of hosting environment (availability, performance and vulnerability) Agreed a pricing plan for an increase/decrease of user volumes (both office and vessel) Agreed a rate (per GB) for DB/File Storage size increases Ensured Hardware and Application support times aligned with all our European and Far East based offices hours Setup of local backup server (daily replication of data)

9 Recommendations Involvement of Senior Management and Project Stakeholders at every step! Provides transparency and reduces fear of hosting outside the company Evaluate cost comparisons (on-premise hosting vs. cloud hosting) on a 10 year cost projection Check SLA terms carefully! Ensure SLA covers both response and resolution times Ensure they are penalty based Check provider s hosting certifications (e.g. ISO Information security management systems) Obtain and investigate client reference details

10 Recommendations (continued) Request a company organisation chart and profiles for the staff involved in both hosting and application support Negotiate a capped (for fenced) rate for users volume increases and DB/storage sizes Investigate how you could bring data/application back in-house for on-premise hosting Consider existing Internet performance (both local loop and ISP peering to hosting country)

11 Questions?

12 CYPRUS UNITEAM MARINE LIMITED Makarios Avenue CY-3105 Limassol P.O.Box CY-3720 Limassol T: F: E: GERMANY UNITEAM MARINE Shipping GmbH Glockengiesserwall Hamburg Postfach Hamburg T: F: E: LITHUANIA UNITEAM MARINE BALTIC UAB Javine Building Minijos Str. 43 LT Klaipeda T: F: E: UKRAINE Subsidiary Company UNITEAM UKRAINE of UNITEAM MARINE LIMITED Deribasovskaya 1 Str. UA Odessa T: F: E: [email protected] SINGAPORE UNITEAM MARINE PTE. LTD. No. 10 Anson Road International Plaza #48-10 (48th Story, Rm 10) Singapore T: F: E: [email protected] MYANMAR UNITEAM MARINE (YANGON) LIMITED 84 Pan Hlaing Street Sanchaung Township Yangon / Union of Myanmar T: F: E: [email protected]