[Inaudible].
So you want to move to the cloud. Great! But if you're watching this video,
chances are that you're not able to make that decision alone.
You've probably been asked to build a business case as part of an evaluation
effort, and maybe you're not sure how to get started on such a thing.
Don't worry about it. We've all been there. Myself included.
My first business case was trying to convince the company I worked for at the
time why we needed to pay for a full-time connection to the internet,
which was a tough sell because our dial up modem service sent emails just fine.
Hopefully through this series,
you'll pick up on some tips and ideas on creating that mysterious thing
known as a cloud adoption business case. In this first module,
I'll talk about what my three guiding principles are when preparing a business
case. We'll also talk about how to get started,
which can be really hard if you're just staring at a blank sheet of paper,
plus I'll go over what I'd expect to see covered in a cloud adoption business
case. And by the way,
we did get our full-time internet connection,
which in 1994 was pretty cool.
I believe there are three keys to preparing a solid business case.
First, be sure you're solving the right problem.
Most organizations don't invest in something just because it's really cool.
Rather there will usually be some sort of overarching strategy or challenge
that will be at the core of your business case.
Your company might want new business capabilities or the ability to bring
products to market faster.
Perhaps your company needs to find some way to reduce overhead,
to remain competitive. Whatever the challenge,
your business case needs to be laser focused on that thing. Next,
you'll want to be sure that your business case is thorough and covers all
perspectives. This might seem really obvious,
but we all have our own biases and blind spots.
And sometimes very important details are lurking in the
shadows. I can recall such a situation in my own career.
I had written what I thought was a perfect bulletproof business case
for why we needed to buy this software over this other software.
And as I was presenting my case to the budgetary committee members,
most looked really confused and unimpressed.
And from the questions they were asking,
my oversight was then blatantly obvious.
I had gone into great detail on the strengths and weaknesses of each
product,
but I hadn't drawn a line from the feature to the value to how our
company would benefit. Now,
after I rewrote the business case to include the intangibles and tangible things
in business terms with clear examples,
the project easily sailed through committee. Above all,
your business case must be fair and honest.
Maybe you believe so strongly that the cloud is the right thing for your
company.
And you've seen firsthand all the great things that you'll be able to do,
but you must put that excitement aside and draw out the facts as they are.
As we'll talk in a later module,
we humans generally prefer to maintain status quo.
So your business case is already up against the current organizational
inertia.
If people get the slightest hint that you might be adjusting the numbers in your
favor or making some unlikely assumptions,
that's going to undermine the entire business case and maybe your
reputation.
The cloud.
Is not right for every organization or situation.
If now isn't the right time, maybe sometime in the future will be.
Your integrity is way more important.
Okay, with those three themes in mind,
just how does one get started with a business case? Well,
at the highest level,
it will be centered on some strategic benefit or challenge.
Some need that isn't being met through your current state. Now,
it's okay if this need isn't widely known across your organization.
Many times companies just carry on day to day without knowing there might be a
better way to do things.
The progressive companies will have intentional R and D budgets or innovation
labs looking out over the horizon.
But lots of firms are just treading water and trying to get by quarter to
quarter.
If you've identified this need and think it might be aided by cloud computing,
that's a good place to start. Next,
you'll want to channel your inner Bob Ross and paint a picture of what the
future could look like. Given the introduction of cloud computing,
how might adopting the cloud benefit your customers and your employees?
Could you streamline prototyping to get things to market faster?
Maybe you need to prepare for international expansion,
or maybe you want to avoid building more data centers. At a high level,
this should be the vision.
Now this series isn't going to cover specific cloud provider platforms or
features,
but I did want to touch on something that is consistent across all the major
providers in their recommendations for cloud adoption.
Getting the most out of cloud providers takes lots of change and evolution,
both in terms of technology,
but also in people and in process.
For this reason,
all cloud providers endorse some version of what's commonly known as
crawl, walk, run approach.
This means that even if you have ambitious vision,
it's best to start out small and build on.
Success. With AWS.
They suggest a small pilot project that may gateway into more foundational
building.
That foundation lays the groundwork for migrations of processes and
workloads,
which ultimately turn into a cycle of reinvention.
Now GCP describes companies as using the cloud to first address
tactical issues.
Then as skill and familiarity increase,
more strategic objectives are pursued,
progressing ultimately into transformational capabilities,
which allow organizations to go.
Farther and faster. Because cloud.
Adoption should be thought of as an evolution,
I recommend that people create business cases that look more like business
plans.
While the business case will generally be focused on supporting one decision,
a business plan will have a longer term view and spell out actions and
phases. After the initial decision has been made,
business plans will usually have milestones and metrics to help provide
indicators of how objectives are trending.
A cloud migration isn't a single event,
but rather a whole series of interconnected activities.
And it's important to create.
Transparency throughout the evolution and tell the story as it happens,
including all the things that aren't going as planned at the same time.
You'll have things that turn out better than you expected,
and you can capitalize on these moments to build positive momentum.
Now, just what should you include in your business case?
As previously mentioned, you should include the problem or need,
emphasis on the right problem or need.
And you should spell out that future vision that you imagined.
It's likely that this vision is going to have multiple phases over time,
which is why I'm suggesting more of a business plan approach.
Now you might also want to include some current state information like how your
specific challenge is negatively impacting your competitiveness
or economic position.
You'll definitely need to include some architectural description of what you're
proposing. Is it a pilot project for offsite storage,
or maybe you'll be moving your dev and QA environments into the cloud.
If you're following a crawl, walk, run flow,
your architectural picture will evolve over time and you should spell this out
too. Now in the cloud architecture module,
we'll cover some migration strategies and methods that you might want to
consider. Now, as tedious and challenging as it may be.
you'll need to include some financial information.
Be on the lookout for both tangible and intangible costs and benefits.
For example,
many companies find that their data security posture improves after moving to
the cloud.
Partly because the tools to manage the security are more accessible and
easier to use. Now,
while this might not have a clear cost that shows up on some invoice,
it can come through in the way of labor savings or lower risk.
The cloud cost module covers some things you might want to consider in this
space.
A common objection to cloud migrations is the perceived lack
of management and increased risk.
And this is where your plans around cloud governance and security will come into
play.
You'll want to build out some substance around how you intend to uphold these
existing company standards and requirements.
And this can be a tricky space depending on how the security and governance
functions are currently perceived in your organization. Now,
in my experience, you simply can't mandate responsibility.
Rather. It's more effective to create guard rails and make it easier to uphold.
The standards than it is to do something outside those guardrails.
Now.
In the governance and security module we'll cover some ideas that might be
helpful in this space. Now,
you'll most definitely want to include in your business case how the cloud
project will impact and support the people of your organization.
Cloud adoption provides many new capabilities and opportunities,
but it can also create concern and skepticism within your organization.
In my experience,
the most challenging part of cloud adoption isn't the technology at all,
but the degree to which people lean into the new approaches
and methods of working.
Just assuming that people will learn the new ways organically can have some
pretty negative side effects, as you'll hear about in other modules.
Instead,
you'll want to spell out an upskilling framework with specific metrics and
measureables. Additionally,
you'll want to include some expectations around how your organization might
evolve around rules and responsibilities with cloud migrations.
Some roles disappear while others are created,
and sometimes separate roles merge into a single job description.
You might also need to set some expectations on additional hiring or consulting
spend. Now,
we'll cover more on the organizational impacts in the organizational change
module.
To help you get.
Started, we've included some templates,
questionnaires and online resources designed to get your thoughts
organized and get your business case going. Every situation is different,
so it's not as easy as following some standard recipe.
Many companies have been through this similar process and lots have gone on to
move into the cloud,
enjoying great success and giving new life to their company.
Of course, there are also cases of complete cloud disasters,
and I'll point out some of those missteps throughout the other modules.
Finally, crafting a solid business case is really hard.
And don't feel that you need to do it all by yourself.
Enlist the help of others,
even if it's just a passing conversation or asking someone to act as a
devil's advocate.
These additional perspectives can really provide new insight and turn a weak
business case into something that can greatly increase your
professional reputation.
Not to mention the potential benefit to the organization.