Cloud Providers
Contracts & Workloads
AWS, Azure, GCP, IBM and Oracle are top U.S. cloud providers with global capabilities. They provide legacy Information technology (IT) services that scale and newer strategic features. Multi-cloud use is also increasing. Selecting and optimizing IT services internally and among clouds is key. Our volume buying expertise and technical abilities provide business and IT workload management assistance for internal, internal cloud and in-the-cloud services.
"In the new era of cloud, cost optimization will be crucial. Multicloud strategies will warrant provider independence and address concentration risk." - Gartner 2020
Data - one of the Company's most valued assets
Recently it was reported that data is the new oil. Data is similar to oil in the sense that it is like a raw material (electronic) that needs to be stored, structured, refined and made available when needed. It is also a Company's memory to access and glean information. Using the latest technologies, applications and databases also speeds transitions and analytics. Larger datasets and Big Data can be refined using commodity servers at scale for lower-cost-to-insight.
For cloud services, determining aggerate spend, service performance and proactively making service changes can be a challenge to manage. Also, making a choice to build in-house, cloud on-premise or in-the-cloud. We use a two-tier model, separating contract management and technical aspects.
Managing contracts (Tier one)
- Pre-proposal - Business and Technical Analysis and Fact-finding
- RFI / RFP - Management, Technical, Performance and Cost areas
- Evaluation - Point-based system based on ability to perform and overall lowest cost
- Negotiation - Pricing and Terms & Conditions
- Award - Volume Pricing and Contract Performance
- Post-award - Reviews, Usage, Performance, Pricing Plans, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Budgets and Consolidated/Volume Spend Savings
Workload Management (Tier two)
- Manual and automated workloads
- Applications, Installs, Updates, Monitoring, VMs, Containers, ETL, SQL and serverless use
- System prototype testing (reliability, speed and use)
- Price Plans
- Price Cost Analysis
- Reserved Services (plan ahead)
- Portability Testing (switching a service or provider)
- Label or ID Services for reporting
- Allocate Services to departments or organizations
- Monitor supplier Service recommendations
- Optimize Services and spend continuously
- Adjust, add or remove service
Multi-cloud use
Avoid unexpected high bills when using cloud services by planning, budgeting, allocating, monitoring and optimizing performance and spend. Proactive self-management. Change services when needed.
Technology
Technology is the sum of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. - Wikipedia
Alexicon - areas to consider when analyzing and designing a single application or "service." Column on the left is your Company.
Company
Shareholder or owners
Competitors
Mission and Vision
Brand(s)
Strategic advantage(s)
Objectives
Products and Services
Compliance
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Indicators, metrics and reporting
Plans
Targets
Performance: Revenue, COGS, Expenses, Quality and Value
People
Talents
Skills
Relationships
Requirements, design, implementation and training
Understands and furthers processes
Helps design and define processes, systems, KPIs, indicators and reporting
Provides process and system training
Needs defined and working processes
Likes to learn, perform and be effective
Knows the rules and how to perform
Indicators and metrics
Goals and targets
Motivated
Monitors
Evaluates
Makes decisions
Change management
Continuously improves processes
Process
How things get accomplished
Embedded in work instructions and systems
System Architecture (Company landscape and individual system process)
System model and transformation process
Define
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control
Standardized process versus work-arounds (avoids two or more processes for same area)
Competitive advantage(s)
Manual, Simi-automated and Automated
Dollars, counts and time durations
Guides consistent quantity and quality output
Systems
Internal and/or External
Users like the system
Users sentiment and use analytics
Meets the business process
Flexible for process improvements
Available and quick
Fosters involvement and use
Ability to transition to newer tools, methods and techniques
Avoids work-arounds
Highlights issues
Provides active performance feedback
Embeds business processes and workflows
System analytics
Cost savings
Return on investment (ROI)
Where will the service reside?
Service
Below are systems that provide a service. Servers can be added physically or virtually to scale (cloud advantage). Commodity servers are used in cloud data centers to reduce hardware costs. The system in the middle is in-house and managed by a cloud partner.
Budget, requirements and high-level design complete. Now build a service.
Service (car analogy)
The end result of project work to stand-up a single cloud service is illustrated as the car below. Clouds offer services that are configured similar to a car (servers and software). For example, to host one application it requires core and possible parts shown below (servers and software). An individual hosted service ("system") is labeled with an ID like a car VIN. Similar concepts to owning, leasing and maintaining a car apply (contractual relationships, enhancements, maintenance and use).
Once deployed, using and keeping the service running
Customers, suppliers and internal users may use the system and provide feedback by submitting service ticket requests. They can also help during service adjustments, enhancements or changes with IT.
IT Workload Management (Mechanics)
IT has many tasks beyond standing-up a new service. Typically, there is heavy lifting on many systems around data and integrations. More the mechanics of the system to keep data flowing and the system in use and performing (e.g., user response times and usability).
Enterprise Data
Most companies are moving rapidly toward improved application integration, reporting and working on their enterprise data warehouses (EDWs). Visualizations, dashboards and reports “report” data. They all require a grid(s) or chunk-like datasets (smaller the better). Advanced data modeling is a highly-valuable area (a Company’s association model). It is where all the pieces come together for an enterprise data model with fully-managed master data.
Without this done correctly, it can be a bumpy ride. This can cause a driver to pause when needing to take a hard turn or a salesperson needing to present a proposal, customer quarterly review or weekly numbers, quickly. And IT when developing. The better the enterprise data model, the fewer applications, visualizations, dashboards and reports (consolidation and standardization - always working toward). Our company is highly skilled with enterprise data models and their performance. We have worked in environments where tens of thousands of reports exist because of natural EDW growth (adding data sources, dimensions and facts). Evolves overtime.
Accelerated help
Your advantage with Alexicon assisting is 20 years of genuine experience with strategic data models (any EDW we work with). We mentioned a few years back the connection with multidimensional data models and high-dimensional statics. A fully intergraded EDW provides a Company’s Multidimensional Data Model to perform Multi-dimensional Statistics. It has all possible dimensions and facts needed to perform data science computations. A structured data warehouse can drill from the top to needed levels quickly and with accuracy. The same drilling is needed for High-dimensional statistics and other data science computations. For EDWs, users should never experience inaccuracy (1 + 1 = 2.01) when using a system.
With data models (data) associated well, IT spends most of their time building needed applications and analytics (avoids point-solutions, workarounds, duplication and unsureness). Main mission is to ensure accuracy, functionality, security and fast click times for users. Most systems are available or online 24/7. IT also needs to coordinate with all parts of the Company and with Suppliers across many systems.
Managing contracts (Tier one)
- Pre-proposal - Business and Technical Analysis and Fact-finding
- RFI / RFP - Management, Technical, Performance and Cost areas
- Evaluation - Point-based system based on ability to perform and overall lowest cost
- Negotiation - Pricing and Terms & Conditions
- Award - Volume Pricing and Contract Performance
- Post-award - Reviews, Usage, Performance, Pricing Plans, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Budgets and Consolidated/Volume Spend Savings
Workload Management (Tier two)
- Manual and automated workloads
- Applications, Installs, Updates, Monitoring, VMs, Containers, ETL, SQL and serverless use
- System prototype testing (reliability, speed and use)
- Price Plans
- Price Cost Analysis
- Reserved Services (plan ahead)
- Portability Testing (switching a service or provider)
- Label or ID Services for reporting
- Allocate Services to departments or organizations
- Monitor supplier Service recommendations
- Optimize Services and spend continuously
- Adjust, add or remove service
Multiple Services
Consider the number of systems running internally and in-the-cloud at your company. Managing a fleet of cars is similar. We assist with:
- Managing Contracts (Tier one)
- Workload Management (Tier two)
Managing service value and cost.
