The Inner Circle

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  • 1.  3rd party IT providers

    Posted Nov 16, 2020 07:27:00 AM
    Hi - I am in search of 3rd party IT providers for my company. The company is based in the Twin Cities area and it is a medium sized construction/manufacturing company. We are not yet in the cloud, but would be interested in moving. Our current IT provider just doesn't seem to be meeting expectations and I think it is time I start looking at other options. Does anyone have any recommendations?

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    Rachel Soanes
    Director - Board of Directors
    CSA-MN
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  • 2.  RE: 3rd party IT providers

    Posted Nov 17, 2020 11:24:00 AM
    Hi Rachel,

    Has your organization put out an RFP with one of the primary objectives being the ability to execute a lift and shift or the ability to optimize your current infrastructure for the cloud? Are you looking specifically for a medium-size outsourcer? I would be hesistant to provide recommendations before having an idea of the scope.

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    Geoffrey Taylor
    Head of IT Security
    GEA Group AG
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  • 3.  RE: 3rd party IT providers

    Posted Nov 18, 2020 10:41:00 AM
    Great question! I do not have anything formal, but will start with this. Thank you!

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    Rachel Soanes
    Director - Board of Directors
    CSA-MN
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  • 4.  RE: 3rd party IT providers

    Posted Nov 17, 2020 10:03:00 PM
    Edited by Claude Baudoin Nov 17, 2020 10:04:56 PM

    Rachel,

    As Geoffey pointed out, it's almost impossible to make a recommendation without knowing the specifics. In fact, as a consultant working in this area among others, I'd find it improper to start naming providers without having looked at requirements.

    Even if you don't issue a formal RFP in all its bureaucratic glory, you need at least some process to establish requirements and selection criteria, then make a list of potential providers, get information from their sales teams (using a third party if you want to be shielded from the endless sales calls after that), then narrow it down to a few finalists, then do a serious comparison with a small team, then work with your purchasing department and/or lawyer to review the contract (cloud service agreements have a lot of fine print that create specific risks with respect to data protection, cessation of service, etc., etc.)

    To appreciate all the things you need to consider, I strongly advise you to read the advice you can find in the free white papers from the OMG's Cloud Working Group (full disclosure: I co-chair that group) at www.omg.org/cloud/published-deliverables. In particular, look for the Practical Guide to Cloud Computing, the guide on cloud migration, and the Practical Guide to Cloud Service Agreements.

    The first of these guides will help you with some absolutely critical questions:
    1. Do you have a solid business case?
    2. Do you understand the benefits -- especially that cost isn't really the main issue?
    3. Do you understand the challenges -- security, privacy, data residency, service agreements?
    4. Do you have the people to participate actively in the planning and execution of the migration?

    I hope this helps. I realize I didn't answer your direct question about provider recommendations, but my reply (and Geoffrey's) hopefully showed you that choosing a provider without having considered all the above is a little bit like grabbing a hammer because you think your problem is a nail, without knowing if it is really a nail, how big the nail is, what material you're nailing it into, etc.

    This being said, congratulations on asking the question in the first place! Feel free to continue the discussion, publicly or privately.

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    Claude Baudoin
    Domain Expert
    OMG
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  • 5.  RE: 3rd party IT providers

    Posted Nov 18, 2020 10:40:00 AM
    Thank you. This is a great start. It looks like I have some work to do on my end.

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    Rachel Soanes
    Director - Board of Directors
    CSA-MN
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