While datacenter management is a mature domain with a clear view on the service provider landscape and capabilities, the cloud domain is still evolving. There is a shortage of skills and experience at the side of both clients and service providers. It requires critical decisions to be made around cloud strategy, choice of cloud provider, IaaS or PaaS, definition of the target operating model, internal roles and capabilities, etc. Operating in the cloud also requires a different mindset characterized more heavily by automation, tooling, and Infrastructure as a Service.
The service provider landscape is evolving with the traditional datacenter providers being supplemented by erstwhile application service providers and a growing breed of pureplay cloud providers. Whether it’s the selection and contracting of your cloud provider or your managed service provider, S-Square can guide you through this process. Through our annual Partnership Benchmark survey, we have deep insights on the capabilities of the different service providers for cloud and datacenter management.
The advisory process typically begins with the definition of the IT Sourcing Strategy. This includes a comprehensive assessment of your existing organization, infrastructure landscape, performance and cost metrics, and future roadmap. We jointly determine the target operating model including a discussion on mix of in-house and outsourced services, tooling / AI Ops, internal roles and capabilities such as SRE. The on-demand nature of cloud services requires special attention to cost management through both organizational and technical FinOps.
For more details on the selection and contracting process, check our section on Selection and Contracting.
Optionally, S-Square can also assist you during the transition period to assure a smooth transition that minimizes business disruption. Post-transition, we can continue to provide governance support, helping organizations monitor vendor performance, manage relationships, and continuously improve application management practices through regular assessments and performance reviews.
