Evolution to the Cloud: Where Every CIO Should Start

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1 Evolution to the Cloud: Where Every CIO Should Start Velocity Technology Solutions / September 2015 This guide will: Discuss the state of cloud computing today Outline steps for a well-defined cloud move strategy Detail 7 key considerations for choosing a cloud provider

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cloud is the New Normal 4 First Steps 5 Moving Forward: Considerations Velocity s Universal Cloud Services 7 Compass to the Cloud 9 8 The responsibilities of a CIO have changed significantly and expectations are greater than ever. In addition to managing technology, CIOs are increasingly playing the role of IT innovator. Business stakeholders and senior management are pressing hard to move to the cloud. New software is often in a cloud-only model. In addition, IT budgets are becoming tighter and the demand by users for innovation and agility is increasing. Moving to the cloud is widely considered a must and it is important to know where to begin. Velocity s cloud experts have outlined steps and best practices for CIOs to consider as they navigate towards a successful cloud strategy. + IT Budgets Decreasing 2 = User Demand Increasing Increased pressure to move to the cloud VelocityCloud.co.uk 3

3 Cloud is the New Normal First Steps Ask yourself the question: If you started a business from scratch and had no limitations in terms of legacy systems and history, would you build your new business with a large IT department? Most executives would answer no without much thought. In other words, if that is the ideal state, why not make sure your current business uses the same model? Charles Phillips, Infor CEO, expressed it this way: Friends don t let friends build data centers anymore. The reach and capabilities of cloud solutions are expanding at an impressive rate. This year, 42% of IT decision makers plan to increase spending on cloud computing. 1 The reality is, cloud is the new normal. Most startups and smaller businesses are building their entire infrastructures in the cloud. For larger organizations, cloud initiatives are in the majority of long term strategic discussions. The security concerns of years ago are also fading fast. For example, the CIA recently implemented a cloud hosting solution for 17 agencies of the intelligence community. In fact, many argue an IT environment hosted by an experienced cloud provider is more secure than an on-premise solution. The early stages of moving to the cloud should include careful planning, a well-defined strategy and a clear understanding of business needs. 1 2 Establish goals: Define the reasons you are considering moving to the cloud. Is it to reduce costs, increase agility or decrease your IT workload? Do you want to gain business flexibility? Are you going mobile? It is important to prioritize and quantify the goals you want to achieve by moving to the cloud in order to identify the best path forward. Application review: Evaluate which applications are good cloud candidates. Start with apps that are the easiest to migrate, the least risky and offer the fastest return. SAP users can take advantage of SAP s cloud extension policy, which allows firms to trade on-premise for cloud licenses. A recent survey found , collaboration, CRM, data storage and human resources as the top five most popular applications to move to the cloud. 3 Friends don t let friends build data centers anymore ~ Charles Phillips, Infor CEO 3 Identify opportunities: The initial move to the cloud should be viewed as an opportunity to start fresh wherever possible and move only what you have to. Consider replacing older systems with lighter, faster and less expensive options Forecast Predictions, Computerworld, CIA Creates a Cloud, CIA News, Assess interoperability: The applications you decide to migrate to the cloud have connections with various other applications and systems. Evaluate the impact of the migration on these connections to prevent any interruption in data flows. You will also want to consider providers who can support multiple enterprise applications and provide a suitable platform for your custom applications. This way, by moving a larger footprint of the data center to the cloud, further cost savings and efficiencies may be obtained. 3 Cloud Computing Survey, IDG Enterprise Research, VelocityCloud.co.uk 5

4 First Steps continued Moving Forward: Considerations Once you ve decided to move ahead with your cloud strategy, there are several factors to consider when choosing a cloud provider Evaluate resources: A move to the cloud will transform how the IT department is run. Many of the tasks your IT team is currently doing will no longer be required while new skill sets will be needed. For example, moving to the cloud will mitigate the need for IT resources supporting infrastructure, operating system, and to some degree, enterprise application support. Determining how these resources may be redeployed to more strategic initiatives is something IT leaders must consider. Executive buy-in: The adoption of cloud architecture will require effort from many areas in your organization. Have a strong commitment from senior management in order to prevent broader resistance in the long run. Public, private or hybrid: Begin the process of evaluating cloud environment options. The following indicators will help you decide which cloud model is best for your applications: Public Long term storage needs Data storage of any kind Capacity spikes and bursts Testing environments New applications with uncertain demand Private Applications with predictable usage patterns and low storage costs Need for customized storage and networking components Compliance and data sovereignty requirements Development and testing environments Security Availability and Performance Disaster Recovery Monitoring Managed Services Value Added Services What is the security level offered by the provider and what mechanisms are in place to preserve your applications and data? Ensure that the cloud hosting SLA meets your availability and application response requirements. Ensure the cloud hosting provider can give you access to your critical applications within your business desired recovery time and recovery point objectives. Evaluate what application and system metrics the cloud application provider would monitor on your behalf. Ensure the provider has made the investment in monitoring applications to confirm their ability to meet your availability and response time requirements. The cloud provider should also proactively monitor the system and notify you of pending issues, before they impact application availability. The provider should also employ best practices to ensure those issues do not reoccur. Consider a managed service provider to free your IT staff from the time consuming tasks of managing and maintaining cloud applications. There are many providers in the marketplace. They all offer roughly the same availability and response time commitments and report back to their clients through scheduled governance meetings. But what does the provider offer you above and beyond basic services? What value-add do they bring to the table? How can they help you achieve the most from your enterprise application investment? Hybrid Large organizations that want to explore the scalability of a public cloud ERP systems running on an outdated private server infrastructure Need to cover the gaps between legacy and newer systems Untested workloads Corporate Culture Forward-thinking CIOs are evaluating cloud providers on the alignment of corporate culture. Increasingly, organizations with aligned corporate cultures are operating with less friction and greater efficiencies. At Velocity, we are customer intimate and operationally empathetic. Our staff believes in acting as a partner with your team to produce the outcome you desire. 6 VelocityCloud.co.uk 7

5 Velocity s Universal Cloud Services Compass to the Cloud Velocity has been managing applications for over a decade, supporting millions of end users and their companies worldwide. We provide cloud hosting services for core business systems such as those offered by Oracle, SAP and Infor. We also support application complements such as Oracle Hyperion, Qlikview, Kronos, PeopleSoft, Oracle Taleo and Oracle Fusion. Velocity s experts are here to help you chart your path to the Cloud. Our Project Compass engagement helps you to determine your business and technical needs and define a roadmap to the cloud. Velocity s Universal Cloud Services Differentiators: S ingle partner for your complete application portfolio including related third-party software Cloud infrastructure that optimizes the performance of your entire application portfolio How Long Does Project Compass Last? ompass engagements typically last between 2-4 weeks depending on the C complexity of your business requirements. What Are My Project Compass Deliverables? At the end of the Compass engagement you will receive the following deliverables, removing the guesswork and allowing you to move forward with confidence: Business Case, outlining the current business baseline, project goals, risks and quick wins. Certified support team offers functional application support 12 hours a day 24/7 global support from experts with application-level expertise A Full Cost Estimate including hardware/software, consulting fees, internal costs and support. Application specific configuration A Full Project Plan, including significant milestones and resource recommendations. Ability to choose the managed services you need Why Velocity Project Compass? At Velocity, we understand the challenges faced when considering a software implementation or cloud migration. Meeting time-sensitive and critical objectives requires resources to be allocated, budgets to be approved, and effective communication across the organization. Ready to learn more? Contact a Velocity expert today to kick off your Project Compass Engagement. 8 VelocityCloud.co.uk 9

6 It s time to move to the cloud. Chart your path today. Velocity Technology Solutions, Inc. is a leader in enterprise and business application hosting services which are fully-managed and protected within a virtual private cloud. Velocity lowers operational costs, provides world-class customer experiences, and delivers application access at top levels of performance and availability. Velocity s expertise managing software 24/7, combined with its proprietary infrastructure design and cloud management platform, guarantee the availability, security, and control over software. Velocity is the trusted partner for rapidly deploying application software into a secure and resilient virtual private cloud. Velocity is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia. Velocity is a portfolio company of Silver Lake Sumeru, a global leader in private equity investments in growth-oriented technology and technology-enabled companies. 10 VelocityCloud.co.uk 11

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