1. What make it Cloudy ?
aligning Technology with business requirements
Georges MOKHBAT
V Barcelona Communications Technology
International Day
February 24th, 2016
2. 2
Macom expertise
Independent Communications Technology consulting firm
Experienced consulting team
Strong value proposition
Corporate customers
Government policy in Telecoms/ICT
Member of the Society of Communications Technology Consultants International
+25 years of experience in customer advocacy in Communications Technology services sourcing and contract negotiations
Solid and recurring customer base across France, UK, UAE, Lebanon
International project management expertise: Europe, Middle East, US
Technical and financial expertise in technology services selection
External opinion on where the technology or market is heading preventing short term decisions from hindering the future
In-depth Market knowledge of international Telecom markets enabling now-how transfer
Paris, France
Beirut, Lebanon
Dubai, UAE
offices
3. 3
What is Cloudy ?
Cloud services were always available in the IT industry…..
̶ 1970’s: TSO, APL, Centrex services….
…...But volume was not there for it to succeed
In 2016,
̶ Volume is may be there (mobile, IoT, Applications on the move,….)
̶ Vendors hindered by their system costs and, driven by their investors, are looking for recurring revenues
̶ Corporate users are (may be) looking for increased flexibility
Recent market study (June 2015) from Netmedia indicates:
̶ 47% of EU Corporations are using Cloud services today
̶ Key drivers: Mobility and fast Systems deployment
̶ 55% of Large corporations will be looking for hybrid environments
̶ Key vendor selection criteria’s: Availability of customizable SLA’s and Private Cloud services
̶ Expertise shortage of CSP’s is considered by 38% of Corporations to be THE CHALLENGE :
• Vendor Security process audit & control (for 66% of respondents)
• Integration with existing systems (for 47%)
• Contractual & Procurement issues (for 45%)
A Clear Sky for Business Development requires
Confidence
Flexibility
4. 4
Confidence
Confidence means:
̶ Long term commitment
̶ OPEX type business model
Transparency is required
OPEX based “Businesses” that should be driven by these criteria’s are:
̶ Telco’s : have you noted how transparent they are ???
̶ Outsourcers’: Why do customers tend to re- insource ?
̶ Software vendors : will be judged in the long run
You have to give before taking: Profitability from Cloud services cannot be short term but it is from
retaining your customer
From the Users side, it is not only about costs: Customers need to integrate “service delegation into their
processes”
From User perspective, this means:
̶ Talking same language: selecting a vendor that understands his business
̶ Being able to audit and control the performance
̶ Being Flexible: Being capable to switch between vendors
Clear Skies mean a complete business perspective change : both from vendor and user sides
5. 5
Flexibility
The main benefit from Cloud services lies with FLEXIBILITY but this means defining it and
organising itself in order to benefit from it:
̶ Where ?
̶ Checks and Controls ?
Where: What functions
̶ Services: identification, security, management, help desk,..
̶ Applications: which type
̶ Computing power
̶ Storage
̶ Network Bandwidth
Controls:
̶ Cross control between IT functions (Network v/s security, Application v/s networks
Does your business need it ??
Is this Flexibility needed because of current systems complexity?
6. 6
Challenges
Need for a new business environment
̶ From vendor side: transparency, long term perspective
̶ From user side : a new vision on IT corporate services
̶ Cloud services is a Change mover
What we have today ?
̶ Everyone wants all your business: status of an immature market
̶ Key Multinational players: GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, AMAZON…creating new regulatory
issues (who is responsible for the connectivity ?)
How can I still address my business objectives ,
̶ How do I warranty data security without engaging corporate responsibility
̶ Where is my data (and what type) located
̶ Flexibility : How do I switch suppliers ?, What is my exit or migration strategy ?
̶ How to control costs when it becomes usage driven ?
It is only once these questions are addressed that we can consider migrating to cloud
You don’t move services into Cloud…. You prepare for migrating to Cloud
7. 7
How ?
Don’t mix Outsourcing with “Clouding”
̶ Processes v/s Functions
It is not a technology issue, it is a service one
̶ Do you know how to control service providers?
̶ Have you identified cloud providers for your business?
Get prepared
̶ Review your IT processes and portfolios
̶ Build a team of controllers and auditors and avoid doers
Do your investigation:
̶ Identify vendors for each service or process : infrastructure, application, security, management
̶ Identify your cloud services broker (v/s cloud services integrator)
• IAAS broker ?
• SAAS broker ?
• IAAS & SAAS broker ?
̶ Check on the various partnerships or links established between the various “cloud services”
providers
8. 8
How ?
Classify your Applications portfolio
̶ CRM, ERP,….
̶ What is strategic?
̶ What is heavily used in a mobile environment?
̶ What is nice to have now?
Define your Infrastructure services properly
̶ Network services
̶ Storage
̶ Computing requirements
̶ Security services
It is really a case of “selecting the specialised supplier”
9. 9
How ?
Remember it is a Cloudy business out there and many grey areas:
̶ Never trust vendors
̶ Allow time for contract negotiations
̶ A contract is usually negotiated once while the environment will change during its application
Key points to address in your contract
̶ Transparency: technical changes control, auditing measures, functions modification rules,…
̶ Flexibility: exit strategy (partial or complete)
̶ Responsibility
̶ SLA commitments and monitoring services
̶ Pricing commitments
• Introduce a Productivity plan
• Regular scheduled date for pricing review
̶ Data security rules, specifically personal data concerns, auditing
̶ Regulatory concerns
• Services location
• Vendor nature definition
̶ Applicable Law…..
10. 10
Key takes
Contract negotiations define against which Beast you are up against
Set its game rules in the RFP
When it comes to Contract negotiations, it is too late
Migrating to Cloud is about:
̶ Specialised and Focused providers
̶ Transparency
̶ Flexibility
Migration to Cloud is not about Costs