Procurement of Public Cloud: Not just blue sky thinking

The Procurement of Public Cloud article focuses on how organisations purchase Public Cloud solutions and more specifically on the following 4 key areas:

1. What are the key challenges IT Procurement departments will encounter when they purchase Public Cloud solutions?
2. How have contractual terms evolved and what negotiation levers do organisations have, now that T&Cs are anchored around the vendors’ position?
3. How has this new ‘power shift’ impacted the ‘traditional’ outsourcing lifecycle and what key activities need to be conducted for purchasing Public Cloud vs. on premise solutions?
4. How has the role of IT Procurement and Vendor Management teams changed?

Overview

The procurement of Public Cloud solutions should answer the question ‘how do I ensure Public Cloud can deliver the value my organisation expects’.
 

Key findings

• When executed correctly, the process can be structured to deliver additional benefits beyond those simply offered by the technical solution, and can turn the role of the procurement team to a value-adding rather than a risk management control function.
• With the wider Public Cloud adoption, the procurement function’s role must evolve from ‘transactional facilitator’ and seek the re-establishment of its priorities with key focus to deliver business benefits, actively participate in digital and strategic initiatives, improve internal stakeholder experience, measure value beyond cost savings and segment the stakeholder community to find the right service level mix. 
• Nevertheless, for this shift to be successfully executed, readiness and different thought processes will be required, whilst retaining enough vendor management control to guarantee that Public Cloud solutions meet the needs of the business throughout the contractual term.