KEY

CONSIDERATIONSWHEN
EVALUATINGACLOUD
MIGRATIONSTRATEGY
MISSIONCRITICALITY
Whats on the line if something goes downand if its your neck, do you still want to own it?
Cloud isnt as risky as you think. Enterprises are migrating missioncritical apps to the cloud and still thriving, proving it can be done.
Mission-critical application providers like Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, and
others have invested in software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings, and
companies are buying. But youre still responsible if the mission-critical
app goes down, no matter where it runs. If you already use third-party
apps on-premises and youre considering switching to SaaS, look
closely at the vendors reliability history as compared with your own. If
your mission-critical app is proprietary, high migration costs may make
the risk question moot: Switching to a third-party SaaS solution might
be your best bet. And if youre constrained by law or regulation, that may
limit your options. If youre considering infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS)
or platform-as-a-service (PaaS), then you still control those cloud-based
components and you benefit from the agility, resiliency, and safeguards
that are (or should be) the providers value-add. Ultimately, migrating
mission-critical software or resources to the cloud is a cost vs. risk vs.
opportunity decision unique to every business.

PUBLICCLOUDSAREGROWINGFAST

$12
$4

$91B

Cloud

2015*

$191B

Business
Cloud
business services
(storage,
file services,
Services
integration)
Cloud
Appsapplications or
Cloud
SaaS
(SaaS)

$75

$44

Cloud
Cloud
platforms
(IaaS/PaaS)
Platforms

$14

$133

* Forrester estimate

2020*

Source: April 24, 2014, The Public Cloud Market Is Now In Hypergrowth Forrester report:

MONITORING
Can you see everything, even when the view is constantly changing?
Transparent monitoring is possible only within your ownership boundary: Beyond that its a black box. With IaaS or PaaS, you can fully
instrument resources as if they were your own, so look for monitoring solutions that discover these dynamic topologies, integrate them
with your on-premises or hybrid topologies, and track changes in real time. To minimize administrative burden, look for solutions that also
integrate with orchestration tools for automated instrumentation/configuration of dynamic components. To monitor SaaS or cloud APIs,
look for a solution that monitors against your provider SLAs and alerts you to noncompliance.

SECURITY
Its 9:00 a.m., do you know where your
servers are?... and who has access to them?

What are your firms concerns, if any, with public cloud?

The security risk of cloud is real but manageable. Reputable cloud

providers invest heavily because they recognize security and privacy
as top customer concerns, possibly protecting your data better than
you do. But keep this in mind: Cloud providers only protect the data
in their possession. You are legally responsible to your customers
for security end to end, top to bottom. Migration to the cloud does
not relieve you of security concerns; in fact, it adds the burden of
ensuring secure transport to and from the cloud service provider.
Dont scrimp on developing a comprehensive cloud-aware security
plan. Better yet, consider the fast-growing market of cloud security
solutions purpose-built for this challenge.
Base: 3,592 global infrastructure decision-makers whose firms (20+ employees, excluding China and India) are planning to implement or have implemented public cloud
Source: Forresters Global Business Technographics Infrastructure Survey, 2015
128105 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, citation, or distribution prohibited.

Have you considered all of the potential costs of migration to the cloud?
True cost is much more than CapEx versus OpEx. Evaluating IaaS and PaaS true cost vs. benefit is fairly straightforward. However,
determining true cost to migrate legacy proprietary software is more complex. The first step is an assessment to see if migration is
technically feasible and worthwhile. Will it run faster, just as fast, or slower in the cloud? Will it need to be redesigned or rewritten for
the cloud? What is the cost to redesign/rewrite and are resources available to do that work? Will it be worth the wait? Migration may
also change the terms and costs of licensing and maintenance and create additional security costs, and it will never entirely eliminate
the ongoing costs that you bear today. Even with retraining costs, switching to a third-party SaaS equivalent may be a more costeffective solution than migration. And never dismiss the possibility of changing nothing so long as its a well-researched and fully
informed business decision.

HETEROGENEITY
Maximizing a combination of on-premises assets alongside private, managed, and public cloud
components: How hard could it be?
The challenges are numerous when it comes to building and maintaining a hybrid mix of on-premises and varied cloud components.
While this consideration alone could span multiple pages, here are a few key highlights and relevant references to consider:
Data and application logic is spread across different packaged and custom-built applications on-premises, on
managed infrastructures, and in the public cloud. Maintaining consistency is a challenge that hybrid integration
vendors strive to address. The Forrester Wave: Hybrid Integration, Q1 2014
Rapid release cycles of SaaS components may not match cycles of on-premises components, creating potential
calendar and functional incompatibilities. The Hybrid Integration Challenge
Network communications becomes a critical factor for performance and security and grows vastly more complex.
Beware The Pitfalls Within Networking For Hybrid Cloud
Organizational silos and political power threaten effective data and process governance, posing functional and
legal risks to the business. The Hybrid Integration Challenge
Despite these challenges, cloud adoption continues to rise among enterprises. However, few will ever reach a pure cloud state. Hybrid
cloud will be the rule not the exception for years to come. The key to successful hybrid cloud migration and management is to take
a cautious and conservative approach after thoroughly weighing the costs and risks suggested here. And revisit the decision often, as
improvements are emerging at a breakneck pace.

Hybrid SaaS usage characterizes the future of SaaS adoption

What are your firms plans to use soware-as-a-service (SaaS)
to complement or replace the following applications?

Base: 451 to 1,220 software decision-makers at firms with 20+ employees

who currently use or are planning to use each application

2016 Zenoss

*Weighted average of the following SaaS categories: CRM, HMC, collaboration management, learning management

This includes all sofware that supports industry-specific processes.

Weighted average of the following SaaS categories:

BPM,SCM,PPM, ePurchasing, content management, ERP, F&A, EAM, BI, PLM, order management