With 3-stages and 13 steps, our process ensures you make the right decision with a cloud service provider and colocation site selection guide. It documents the risks, current and future-state requirements, and includes a decision matrix to support the vendor selection process and, ultimately, your final selection.
In stage 1, the gathering of current and future-state requirements, as well as risks, are documented in a Cloud Service Provider and Colocation Site Selection Guide (Provider Selection Guide). These requirements drive the development of your cloud or hybrid IT strategy.
Step 1. Identify Decision Drivers: A series of questions and answers are exchanged to cull out the priorities driving the effort along with technical issues or concerns.
Step 2. Identify Risk Avoidance Priorities: Cloud and data center migrations involve managing risk. Working with your organization, we will identify and prioritize those risks, both natural and man-made, and develop appropriate risk mitigation and contingency plans. Additional consideration should be given to your unique risk management policies on disaster avoidance. These findings are all documented in the Provider Selection Guide.
Step 3. Evaluate the Current Environment: This step involves gathering and reviewing data from your current facility(ies), IT infrastructure, and environment. We specifically focus on factors that will impact geographic or regional site selection and cloud service provider requirements. This information will feed into your later selection and RFP process to obtain specific pricing and ensure the solution addresses the needs of all your systems.
Step 4. Evaluate the Future Environment: Based on the data gathered from steps 1 through 3, a “to-be” picture of your future environment begins to take shape. An evaluation of your vision for future infrastructure and business growth should be considered as part of your requirements.
In Stage 2, the development of a cloud/site model and a facility decision matrix is created. This becomes part of your Provider Selection Guide used to identify the required specifications of site candidates for your cloud and colocation service provider.
Step 5. Prioritize Selection Criteria: Using the documentation captured in stage 1, data is isolated relevant to geographic and regional preferences and the criteria is collaboratively ranked by priority. We provide recommendations and discuss ideal scenarios for disaster occurrence, major optical fiber routes, security, latency considerations, niche cloud service provider options, etc.
Step 6. Select Geographic / Regional location(s): The ranked criteria are used to create an ideal cloud/site model and determine the scope of your geographic search for a target location and/or cloud service provider.
Step 7. Prioritize Facility Service Providers Meeting Criteria: In step 7, we develop cloud/site model and facility decision matrix that identifies gaps in requirements as ranked by priority.
Step 8. Identify Facility Service Providers Meeting Criteria: After collaborative analysis and review, a list of possible target location(s) is developed.
In stage 3, David-Kenneth Group guides your organization through the rigors of making a final decision, offering insights that might otherwise be missed. The decision matrix will be used to compare the service provider candidates for your x86 physical and virtual systems plus any legacy systems you may have such as mainframes, AS/400s, AIXs, etc.
Step 9. Issue RFP: Together we draft an RFP using our RFP template as the launch point. Following your internal guidelines, key stakeholders are engaged as we finalize the RFP for distribution.
Step 10. Review Responses and Create Short List: Service provider proposal responses are reviewed based upon the prioritized selection criteria, and 3-5 proposals are down selected for further inquiry.
Step 11. Site Visits (optional): Together we conduct site visits and oral reviews with the potential service providers, completing a checklist for each and comparing the results against your decision matrix.
Step 12. Select Service Provider: The final decision rests with you but with guidance and direction from David-Kenneth Group, your team will make an informed decision from the shortlisted service providers.
Step 13. Negotiate Contract: David-Kenneth Group will provide your organization with a list of details to be considered when negotiating a contract with a cloud and colocation service provider. While the list excludes any legal or financial advice, it does highlight details that might otherwise be missed.
It all begins with a migration-specific methodology, a step-by-step cloud and data center migration plan that never fails to deliver on budget and on schedule.
The Migration Strategy Board is an interactive guide to our cloud and data center migration methodology. Adaptable to any environment, the Migration Strategy Board is organized into the five phases of a cloud or data center migration project. Move block by block to interact with the board and see different objectives and insights.
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