Lesson 4. Engaging Cloud Vendors

bring your own license (BYOL)

Software license terms that provide great flexibility, because the license can be redeployed from one device to another or from one user to another

capital expenditure

Money spent on buying, improving, or maintaining fixed assets

contract

A legally binding document that specifies the terms of service between two parties, such as CSP and a client

evaluations

A test to understand the performance of a proposed technical solution, for example, proof of concept (PoC), proof of value (PoV), and pilots

fixed costs

Costs that do not change from month to month or year to year

human capital

The knowledge, skills, and experience possessed by the members of the IT staff

hybrid migration

A cloud migration that combines rip and replace and lift and shift, or one where some service are migrated to the cloud and others are left on-premises

licensing models

Methos by which software vendors provide user access to clients

lift and shift

A migration where existing data and software are moved from an original location, such as on-premises, to the cloud

managed services

Outsourced cloud management and technical support, including but not limited to daily management and troubleshooting, performance testing, monitoring and reporting, and backup and recovery

migration

The process of moving data from once location to another, such as from an on-premises data to the cloud

open-source

Software whose source code is freely available and can be modified by other users

operating expenditure

Money used for the purpose of supporting the ongoing costs of conducting regular day-to-day business

pay-as-you-go

A cloud characteristic enabled by metered or measured service

phased migration

A migration that does not take place at one time, for example, data is moved in year 1, and applications are moved in year 2

pilot

An evaluation of a solution, run with a small number of test users in a production environment

professional development

A long-term educational process focused on employee growth

professional services

Hired solutions from a CSP or MSP that can speed up migration time, enhance efficiency, and reduce cost

proof of concept (PoC)

An evaluation of a proposed solution that runs in a test environment and designed to prove that a technology works as it should

proof of value (PoV)

An evaluation of a proposed solution that runs in a test environment and designed to prove that technology will deliver the cost savings (or extra sales) that it’s expected to

proprietary

Software that has been developed by a company and whose source code cannot be changed by end-users

request for information (RFI)

A document that collects written information about a CSP’s capabilities

request for proposal (RFP)

A follow-up to an RFI that seeks detailed solutions to a broad project or nonstandard problem

request for quotation (RFQ)

A follow-up to an RFI that requests pricing information on a specific set of standard services or products

rip and replace

A migration in which software is completely redesigned as it’s moved to take advantage of cloud services

service level agreement (SLA)

A document that specifies metrics to determine whether a CSP is delivering what is specified in the statement of work (SOW)

statement of work

A detailed document that outlines the specific work to be provided by the vendor

success criteria

Metrics used to determine if a project succeeds or fails; can include business and technical metrics

time to market (TTM)

The time it takes from having an idea to getting it into the market

training

A short-term process designed to have employees develop skills or obtain knowledge to perform their jobs

variable costs

Costs that change depending on how much is used or how much product is produced

vendor lock-in

A risk of the inability to change vendors once your resources are in the cloud

virtual to physical (V2P)

Migrating apps or data from a virtual machine to a physical device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, or optical disc

virtual to virtual (V2V)]

Migrating apps or data from one virtual machine to another