ICT Management. > Strategy & Planning
Software > Buying & Owning Software, Internet Based Software
Moving to the cloud - a case study
Basic
By Morgan Killick
Many organisations are now considering ‘moving to the cloud’ but it may not always be the right choice. This case study throws some light on when moving to the cloud may not bring the expected benefits.
As a busy IT support provider working in the third sector, ESP is dealing increasingly with expressions of interest in cloud computing. In spring 2011, we faced an unusual sequence of scenarios where we found ourselves having to ‘sell the virtues’ of the cloud to some our smallest clients, yet ‘urge caution’ for the ambitions of some of the larger ones. This experience seemed to highlight a tension between the marketing messages of cloud computing and the real-world, practical uses and applications of the technology.
Towards a better understanding…
This article aims to create a better understanding of when the cloud is, and is not such a viable alternative to servers; as well as how this informs its cost-saving potential for different types and sizes of organisation.
For organisations with no server - or no need for a server - cloud services are ideal as they pave the way for functions that weren’t previously accessible. But those organisations cannot save money by disposing of pre-existing servers. Indeed, in the short term there may be no cost ‘saving’ at all - only the extra costs of the new services, as well as the ‘transition’ costs of moving files and email to new software.
At the other end of the scale, if your organisation has 4 or 5 servers, the cloud brings tremendous financial benefits. You might be able to move specific functions to the cloud and decommission one or more of those servers. You may well have the staff expertise and spare resources to test, assist and oversee the transition without the expense of external advice. You also get two types of cost savings over the long run because you have removed the need to replace servers AND have reduced your IT support overheads.
There are also however a large number of medium sized organisations that fall between these extremes. Such organisations may have just one or two servers onsite. For these organisations, the situation is less clear cut – there are few cloud services that can replicate all that the current system is doing, and migration typically involves expense and disruption. As such, the oft-cited benefits simply may not outweigh the costs. In this article, we look at a short case study of one such organisation.
When the cloud might not be for you – a case study
ESP works with a social enterprise that applies the performing arts to a range of educational projects addressing the socially excluded. They first got in touch 5 years ago. Like many organisations with a handful of core staff and a few volunteers, they had found that they had outgrown the 'pop down to PC world' school of IT Strategy. After discussions, we identified three core needs:
- Ability to open each others' mailboxes
- Shared calendars
- An improved system of file access permissions.
Current System
ESP later implemented a Small Business Server, with a tape drive, backup software and a Support Contract. The organisation became one of ESP’s regular clients, in other words, a typical small Third Sector organisation with some straightforward and easily met IT requirements.
Over the next 5 years, the company grew steadily, taking on more staff and adding more PCs to the network. As their staffing grew, so we, as good IT Consultants, suggested and made some improvements to reflect the growing network. We implemented centralised Windows and Office updates. We used server-based policies to deploy their printers, core applications, and antivirus software. Everything was gradually standardised.
All of this meant that new or repaired PCs could be joined to the domain knowing that everything they needed would be automatically installed and configured. The entire network could be centrally managed, changed or upgraded with ease.
Time for a move?
But technology is never static. This was a dynamic bunch of people and they had access to many channels of IT advice. They were the first of our clients to get an iPhone and, later, an iPad. It was only a matter of time before they told us they wanted to ‘move to the cloud’.
There were several underlying drivers in this project that many will recognise:
- The server - now 5 years old - had already been upgraded but was running out of room. It was now serving twice the number of staff, and was starting to struggle.
- The funding environment had entirely shifted. Various projects were coming to an end, but there were other irons in the fire. There was no telling whether they would have to revert back to 5 people or maybe even increase in size.
- Alongside the need for flexibility was the need to cut back on costs. Why pay £££ for a replacement server and ongoing support, when the Cloud was virtually free? Or so they had heard...
Cloud CRM?
They first started looking at the cloud in the context of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems. Outlook/Exchange has never been - or purported to be - a particularly useful CRM system, and they now had a good reason to replace it.
ESP signposted them to some of the sector-specific software on the market and put them in touch with some CRM specialists. However, a few months later we were surprised there had been little progress and asked why. The organisation reported that they had found it very hard to articulate their exact needs. Testing had been enormously time consuming and was technically demanding. None of the systems had won them over. They were either too generic to be useful, or so over-engineered that migration involved vastly expensive modifications.
Although many organisations would have had similar issues choosing any type of CRM, crucially this customer also realised that none of the cloud CRM systems they looked at could obviate the need for their Exchange server.
A cloud based email & calendar system?
Given that ‘getting rid’ of the server was a major driver, it was imperative to find an alternative for the in-house Exchange. A couple of people they had spoken to had mentioned that Google was a leading competitor. It was a simple rationale: switch from Exchange to Google Apps, make do with one of the Google plugins as the CRM, and move files to a NAS (Network Attached Storage) thereby allowing them to ditch the server.
Over the next couple of weeks, questions started arising about Google Apps. For example, they were confused over the pricing - they couldn’t seem to find any discounts they were actually eligible for, despite hearing about them. But at the full price of £33 per user per year, there was no revenue saving at all compared with server maintenance. As a result, they signed up for a free package. It was only much later – days before the planned migration in fact - that they discovered this version didn’t seem to include the Exchange import facility. Besides this, the other option of ‘Outlook integration’ wasn’t useful because they needed the Google CRM plugin which relied on GoogleMail. The workaround was therefore to continue to use Outlook for old email and use Google for new.
This was one of several examples that lead ESP to believe that the advice they were getting from others lacked the real world experience necessary for such a transition. They were accessing information informally and from people that had only ever ‘started with’ Google in the first place and had never had to migrate to it from another platform. Various consultants in the field apparently knew more, but they costed £500 a day and this organisation needed to save money not spend more!
Copyright © 2011 Morgan Killick
