Navigating through the cloud: A case study in opportunities &

risks

September 2015

Part of the “IT Applications Now and in the Future” ThemeACS Conference Canberra 2015

Major Trends• Mobility• Consumer Creation• As a Service

Mobility

Courtesy: http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/Library/Corporate-library/Corporate-publications/australia-mobile-digital-economy

Jun-14 Jun-15

54?65?

Consumer Creation• Co-operative design started as early as in 1970• Grew in pace through the 1990’s:

• User-centred design and customer centred systems• Mass customisation emerged through mid-late 1990’s

• Continued in 2000’s:• Design based on the Voice of the Customer in Six Sigma around 2002

• And:• Emergence of Platform or network business models• Apple App Store introduced in 2008, now 1.4M apps• Powered by Amazon self publishing launched in 2011• Open Data supports Consumer Creation

Cloud (As a Service)

Courtesy: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/8129.0Main%20Features32013-14?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=8129.0&issue=2013-14&num=&view=

What are the ReasonsStated Benefits by Cloud User Percentage

Reduction in IT costs 34.0

Flexibility to either up-scale or down-scale services 33.1

Simplicity of deployment of cloud-based solutions 47.2

Increased productivity 46.3

Other benefits 9.7

No benefits 15.0

Courtesy: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/8129.0Main%20Features32013-14?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=8129.0&issue=2013-14&num=&view=

Additional Reasons in Government• Cloud or As A Service / Cloud First Policies• Contestability Agenda• Shared Services• Proving Value for Money• Productivity Dividend – Are there cost savings?

• Keeping ahead of your clients• The new Shadow IT – Emerging Brokerage Roles • How many cloud services is your organisation using?• How many that you don’t know about?

This Case Study• Government Owned Organisation• Owns Major Assets / Asset Management is core capability• Information Management and ICT Strategy was the basis for

determining systems refresh and investment priorities• ERP Implementation of Asset Management & Maintenance/Contract &

Property Management/GIS/Finance/HR• Making parallel improvements to Content and Records Management

Systems• Few hundred employees

How are Organisations Making the Move to Cloud

Opportunistic• Specific problem solving• Unique Architecture Stacks• Unique Skill Sets• Step Investments Required

Strategic• Capability assessment• Opportunities, risks• Costs and performance

benchmarks• Strategic Value• Timing windows• Return on Investment

The Risks of an Opportunistic Approach• Cost, contract and service quality risks• Integration and inter-operability• Upgrades, adaptability and tailoring• Skills and capability• Client service agreements, standard service quality• Emerging brokerage models

• Transition out options• Market Capability

The Basics – What type of Cloud• IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service• Access to supplier owned networks, servers, storage and

operating systems via the Internet

• PaaS – Platform as a Service• Access to a supplier owned and managed environment

through which to create or acquire applications using e.g. languages, libraries and tools.

• SaaS – Software as a Service• Access to a supplier’s applications e.g. via a browser

Major Decisions MadeApplication

Decision

Strategic

Opportunistic IaaS

PaaS

SaaS

Why- Scalability

- Deployment Simplicity

Cloud Specific Risks

- Costs, contract, Service Quality

- Market Capability

In ParallelInformation Strategy

Information and Enterprise ArchitectureICT Strategy

ERP Project

What is a Strategic Approach to Cloud

INPUTS

ICT Services Catalogue

Policies

Procurement/Contracts

Activity Based Costing

Performance Benchmarks

Client Viewpoints

Strategic Assessment

Application Portfolio

OUTPUTSCases for Change

Implementation RoadmapSourcing Strategy

ICT Strategy

SupportsCloud SolutionsContestability

Shared ServicesProductivity Dividend

Core Business Bu

sines

s Pro

cess

&

Data

Contract &

Vendor Mgmt

ERP Hosting

The SaaS Systems Implementation LifecycleWorkstreams

Phases >>>Plan & Prep Business

DesignSystem Design Development Deploy Support &

TransitionGovernance

Management

Business Process

COTs Functional

Software Development

Integrations

Data Management

IT Support

Legacy Systems Change

Organisational Change

Training

A SaaS solution will provide both acceleration and some constraints in these areas.

Parallel activities to mitigate strategic risks

Systems Implementation DifferencesBusiness Process • Can be constrained to SaaS supported process designs

COTs Functional • Specific configuration / can be different to licensed software• Understand the architectural direction and changing footprint

Software Development • Specific capabilities and restrictions

Integrations • Specific capabilities and restrictions

Data Management • Some loading and cleansing tools may be available• Specific business rules may apply / can be different to licensed software

Case Study Issues• Cloud Specific Issues• Market Readiness (Moderate-High)• Contract (High)• New Implementation Methods and Tools (Low-Moderate)

• Business As usual Issues• Business Process and Data/Information Expertise (Subject Matter Experts)• Program and Project Management Disciplines

• Mitigated Risks• Enterprise, Applications and Information Strategy, Governance, Standards &

Policies• Stakeholder Interests and Concerns

In Summary• Initiate based on an opportunistic or strategic decision making• If opportunistic, protect against strategic risks / mis-steps• Market capability growing – Due Diligence• Plan for impacts on the Systems Implementation Lifecycle

Closing Questions

Article:"Sourcing IT as a Service“

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