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Consulting & Advisory Services

Cloud Advisory


CloudAdvice^™ is our strategy-to-implementation advisory service for organisations of all sizes and sectors – from large multinational corporations, public sector organisations, to small- and medium-sized (SMEs) and micro enterprises. For not-for-profit and social enterprises, Excellis also undertakes to deliver significant portions of its CloudAdvice^™ services on a pro-bono basis†. Independent and objective With our background and pioneering work in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) domains, Excellis has strong credentials for providing independent technical expertise and unbiased commercial advice on Cloud Computing. Holistic approach The strategy and options evaluation aspect of CloudAdvice^™ provides our clients with a fixed-price assessment of whether and if/when they should consider Cloud Computing as a viable and affordable option for their business or organisation. Our detailed and holistic analysis takes into account the important strategic, operational, technical and commercial considerations, including: The business case for Cloud - how to ensure a significant return on investment (RoI) from the Cloud; Business flexibility versus vendor dependence (operational freedom and commercial lock-in); Price-point analysis and benchmarks – ensuring value for money; Infrastructure and architecture assessment, and determining the Cloud footprint and architecture for your organisation; Data security, protection, privacy and compliance with legislation and standards; Risk assessment and business continuity trade-offs; Innovation capacity and capability factors; Cloud service vendors shortlisting, RFQ/RFP/RFI assistance and roll-out planning; Service assurance and QoS agreements (with provision for special terms such as free-of-charge proof of fidelity and reliability by the Cloud vendor); Change management, including potential tradeoffs in employee working, travel and communication policies and patterns; Revisions to corporate social responsibility policies – including assurance that Cloud service providers comply with ethical and environmentally-friendly business practices. Combining foresight with hindsight With each client, Excellis invests a lot of time and effort in developing client-specific strategic roadmaps. These ensure that the selected strategy provides an optimal fit with an organisation's current business objectives, and also remains cognizant of future business scenarios and competitive landscape. For example, should cloud-switching become necessary in the future (i.e. switching to a different Cloud service provider), that this would still be a practical and viable option. Hands-on service tailored to each client From experience, Excellis recognises that, when it comes to Cloud, a “me too” approach could prove unsuccessful for many organisations. Therefore, instead of providing a generic guidebook, manual or a comparative evaluation of cloud service providers, Excellis’ CloudAdvice^™ service puts our expertise at the client’s disposal, to assist them hands-on in devising successful Cloud strategies that are tailor-made for their specific operational, customer and business models. Hidden costs in the Cloud Whilst it is widely claimed by the proponents of the Cloud that there is zero CAPEX element (i.e. no upfront capital expenditure), we believe that there are significant hidden costs involved in effecting a switch to the Cloud. For organisations with complex operations and supply chains, these hidden costs relate to the significant investment in time and resources that would be needed to manage, plan, negotiate, migrate, test, and support a Cloud-based operation. Of course, some of the costs would be offset by the reduction in in-house infrastructure and IT costs. Organisations should not under-estimate these hidden costs. Moreover, in order to realise a true return on investment (RoI) whilst minimising potentially costly change requests in the future, they must also take the opportunity to simplify and/or ratify their business processes and practices, wherever practicable. This should be regarded as a precursor to transitioning to Cloud, and not an after-thought. † Subject to quota and qualifying criteria (available on request).

CloudAdvice^™ is our strategy-to-implementation advisory service for organisations of all sizes and sectors – from large multinational corporations, public sector organisations, to small- and medium-sized (SMEs) and micro enterprises.

For not-for-profit and social enterprises, Excellis also undertakes to deliver significant portions of its CloudAdvice^™ services on a pro-bono basis†.

Independent and objective

With our background and pioneering work in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) domains, Excellis has strong credentials for providing independent technical expertise and unbiased commercial advice on Cloud Computing.

Holistic approach

The strategy and options evaluation aspect of CloudAdvice^™ provides our clients with a fixed-price assessment of whether and if/when they should consider Cloud Computing as a viable and affordable option for their business or organisation.

Our detailed and holistic analysis takes into account the important strategic, operational, technical and commercial considerations, including:

                The business case for Cloud - how to ensure a significant return on investment (RoI) from the Cloud;
Business flexibility versus vendor dependence (operational freedom and commercial lock-in);
Price-point analysis and benchmarks – ensuring value for money;
Infrastructure and architecture assessment, and determining the Cloud footprint and architecture for your organisation;
Data security, protection, privacy and compliance with legislation and standards;
Risk assessment and business continuity trade-offs;
Innovation capacity and capability factors;
Cloud service vendors shortlisting, RFQ/RFP/RFI assistance and roll-out planning;
Service assurance and QoS agreements (with provision for special terms such as free-of-charge proof of fidelity and reliability by the Cloud vendor);
Change management, including potential tradeoffs in employee working, travel and communication policies and patterns;
Revisions to corporate social responsibility policies – including assurance that Cloud service providers comply with ethical and environmentally-friendly business practices.

Combining foresight with hindsight

With each client, Excellis invests a lot of time and effort in developing client-specific strategic roadmaps. These ensure that the selected strategy provides an optimal fit with an organisation's current business objectives, and also remains cognizant of future business scenarios and competitive landscape. For example, should cloud-switching become necessary in the future (i.e. switching to a different Cloud service provider), that this would still be a practical and viable option.

Hands-on service tailored to each client

From experience, Excellis recognises that, when it comes to Cloud, a “me too” approach could prove unsuccessful for many organisations.

Therefore, instead of providing a generic guidebook, manual or a comparative evaluation of cloud service providers, Excellis’ CloudAdvice^™ service puts our expertise at the client’s disposal, to assist them hands-on in devising successful Cloud strategies that are tailor-made for their specific operational, customer and business models.

Hidden costs in the Cloud

Whilst it is widely claimed by the proponents of the Cloud that there is zero CAPEX element (i.e. no upfront capital expenditure), we believe that there are significant hidden costs involved in effecting a switch to the Cloud.

For organisations with complex operations and supply chains, these hidden costs relate to the significant investment in time and resources that would be needed to manage, plan, negotiate, migrate, test, and support a Cloud-based operation. Of course, some of the costs would be offset by the reduction in in-house infrastructure and IT costs.

Organisations should not under-estimate these hidden costs. Moreover, in order to realise a true return on investment (RoI) whilst minimising potentially costly change requests in the future, they must also take the opportunity to simplify and/or ratify their business processes and practices, wherever practicable. This should be regarded as a precursor to transitioning to Cloud, and not an after-thought.

† Subject to quota and qualifying criteria (available on request).

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