IT Investment & Cloud Migration
I.T. BUZZWORDS
What do they mean and can you model them?
The Information Technology landscape has historically been filled with two types of individuals; those who are technologically immersed and constantly pursuing the latest and greatest developments, and those who are not.
For the latter grouping of business executives, certain “buzz words” and modified business jargon have been created to distill and simplify the benefits of Information Technology in the workplace.
That said, rarely are these buzz words “quantified” sufficiently to provide and support a financial business case. (i.e., How do I turn these “Phrases” into Numbers?)
Common I.T. phrasiology
Speed to market
Enable companies to scale and launch new products and services quickly.
Agility
Stay nimble, innovate, and focus on continuous improvement. (Advanced Analytics, Machine Learning, etc.).
Play It Safe
Less technology integration and cloud migration that leads to stagnation and falling behind the pack.
Scalability
Providing extra resources when required; manage highs and lows of demand.
TCO VS ROI - TCO =
costs involved, ROI = forecasted benefits + expected return.
QUICKER ONBOARDING OF CUSTOMERS
Enhance and expedite the customer journey process.
MULTI-CLOUD / HYBRID
Provides more control over data and less reliance on one provider.
TCO VS ROI - TCO =
costs involved, ROI = forecasted benefits + expected return.
QUICKER ONBOARDING OF CUSTOMERS
Enhance and expedite the customer journey process.
MULTI-CLOUD / HYBRID
Provides more control over data and less reliance on one provider.
WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE ANSWERED?
Timeframe Urgency
Are there immediate drivers impacting decision making that will either alleviate business risks, enhance business strategy, or create cost efficiencies?
Will accounting treatments impact decision making?
Have all the accounting and tax implications been complied and calculated? (Capital vs Operating Lease vs. Embedded Lease)
Does Peer-Benchmarking matter?
Is the “cloud” a panacea for your issues?
Has a thorough SWOT Analysis been completed accompanied by robust financial modeling? (Owned, Managed, Cloud, Multi-Cloud, Hybrid)
Finding the right partner
Who is best suited to be our 3rd party provider/partner? Has a matrix of needs been created to vet market options?
What else needs to be factored in?
Security | Risk | Access
Downtime | Compliance | Privacy
Human Resources (Internal and External)
Function-specific software
Which departments in the organization are in need?
What software and platforms complement the business needs?
(ERP, HR, Customer Service, Product Development)
Remaining obligations and TCO
What are they; Legacy Systems, Contracts, Licenses, Real Estate?
Under which budget do they currently reside?
Are they company-owned, leased facilities, 3rd party contracts?
Can you easily terminate or decommission if needed; what are those costs?
Economics
Calculating the all-in costs when factoring in: Credits, Discounts, Rebates;
Pros and Cons of BYOL (Bring Your Own License) vs. LI (License Included);
Actual resource consumption (ARC)