Lone Wolf Technologies + The Cloud

With the advent of cheaper storage, incredibly faster processing power, and network
capabilities such as fiber optics, cloud databases have become more popular than ever. Tech
giants such as Amazon and Microsoft have launched commercial cloud systems like Amazon
Web Services and Azure, respectively, to capture the market and make cloud databases a part of
our everyday lives.
Cloud computing or cloud databases are internet-based computing services which share
resources, software, and information that are accessed by end-users hosted on virtual servers.
Until the last few years, data and applications were stored locally on an organizations machines
or on-premises databases. Recently, companies have begun to shift to the cloud model where
most of the data and software reside in a database elsewhere in the world hosted by a third party
company.
Moving an existing on-prem database to the cloud would be categorized as a Technology
Migration infrastructure project. While a company of any size can adopt the migration to a cloud
database, many of the benefits are realized when a small, growing organization adopts this
model. Lone Wolf Technologies is a specialized IT company that provides enterprise solutions to
real estate brokerages across the United States and Canada. Lone Wolf Technologies bread and
butter is their back-end accounting software called brokerWOLF. This accounting software
created by the founder of Lone Wolf Technologies has beaten out QuickBooks to gain over 90%
market share in Canada and is rapidly gaining traction in the United States. Lone Wolfs current
model is that they license physical copies of the software on a per-month subscription. All of the
data that is entered into brokerWOLF is also stored at Lone Wolfs wholly owned physical data
center outside of Toronto, Canada. Since Lone Wolf is a rapidly advancing company, a large part
of their IT budget goes to constantly upgrading storage and processing power at their on-prem
database. It would be more cost effective and efficient for their sake to instead move their current
database to a service such as Amazon Web Service, for example, and simply pay a per-month fee
for how much storage and processing power they need at the current moment.

Capabilities and Benefits

Cloud computing provides flexibility, efficiency, and strategic value for companies and
businesses that use it. In terms of flexibility, cloud computing offers scalability, storage options,
many security features, and more control. Scalability is the capability of a network, process, or
system to adapt and change to varying workload demand. This scalability feature would greatly
reduce the risks associated with traffic overflow causing server failure, which would mean less
downtime when customers or clients use the companys services. This feature would add great
value to the company and would increase customer satisfaction.
Cloud storage can scale up or down based on demand with little to no interruption to the
companys services. Additionally, cloud storage and infrastructure can be deployed in strategic
locations around the world to achieve higher performance for both the company and its
customers. Security is an incredibly important part of keeping a business running and with cloud
solutions, the company can choose from a plethora of security features including virtual private
clouds and encryption to help keep sensitive data secure. The tools that cloud services provide
companies allows them to effectively build and manage their own cloud.
One of the biggest things that would benefit the company by switching to a cloud
solution is cost savings. A traditional legacy system would run anywhere from $3,000 to $50,000
per year while a cloud based solution runs for $600 to $10,000 per year. The software that runs
on traditional systems also costs money and takes time to install on-site. With cloud computing,
the software is already hosted online and ready to use. Traditional legacy systems require
hardware maintenance, but with a cloud solution there can be additional cost savings as the
maintenance and security patches are done by the cloud solution provider. The energy savings
from moving to a cloud based solution also greatly helps cut back on company cost.
Cloud computing will improve the companys ability to communicate and share
information compared to traditional ways. It enables employees to collaborate more effectively
by allowing individuals to share and work on documents simultaneously. It also allows
employees whom are overseas to access work related information and records in a quick and
secure way which allows more work to get done.
Company data is precious and backing it up is incredibly important in case of an
emergency. If all the companys data is stored in the cloud, it is easier to back it up and restore it
than doing so on a physical device. In the event of a disaster, our company needs to be confident
that their data was protected and that it can be restored quickly to keep business running
smoothly without disruptions to ensure business continuity.

Risks and Costs

A decision for Lone Wolf Technologies to choose Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

would bring many benefits such as scalability and availability for a growing company, but these
benefits should not be the only factors driving the decision. It is important to also take into
account the risks and costs before making the move. The risks associated with any project of this
nature will include the migration of one infrastructure to another. As stated earlier, this
companys main service is brokerWOLF, a back-end accounting software system with its own
data center based outside Toronto, Canada. Given Lone Wolfs business model, the risk
associated with a change of infrastructure is minimized. Even though the nature of Lone Wolf
Technologies allows for an easier transition, it is important to acknowledge other risks taken on
when running a business in the cloud. The risks that face us today are data sensitivity, added
latency, transparency when debugging since hardware doesnt belong to the company requesting
it, not to mention fear of the unknown. Breach any of these risks and Lone Wolf runs the
possibility of losing its customers to our top competitor, QuickBooks. When making the final
decision, this company needs to take into consideration whether or not this project is needed. If
the customer demand is being met with existing infrastructure and low maintenance costs, why
mess with it? This segues into the next point cost.
The cost analysis of both options must be examined. Those options being continuing to
maintain the database center in Toronto versus the cost to phase out of that data center along
with the migration cost. The following costs will be incurred if this project is moved forward
using AWS as the service provider. The Northern Californian region has been chosen to host the
cloud service as it provides some of the most competitive rates. The first chart breaks down the
costs associated with compute pricing by hour with no long-term commitments. The second chart
displays the reserved pricing for a large steady-state database workload, essentially the cost to
run the database. Lastly, the third chart displays the pricing for what it will cost to migrate to the
cloud.

Compute Pricing

Chart 1. Compute Pricing (Source: Amazon Web Services)

Database Pricing
Chart 2. Database Pricing (Source: Amazon Web Services)

Migration

Chart 3. Migration (Source: Amazon Web Services)

Alignment with the IT-CMF

Most importantly, though, the project aligns with the IT Capability Maturity Framework.
The initiative resulted from Capacity Forecasting and Planning during which the IT
infrastructure team at Lone Wolf identified the growing need for storage and the spiked costs
associated with this growth. The scalability of the cloud was too perfect a fit to turn down.
Sourcing needed to be implemented for the brokerWOLF software management, warranting the
development of a cloud outsourcing model via a provider like AWS. The migration also allows
Demand and Supply Management by being easily scaled up or down to adhere to business needs.
Not to mention capacity needed to be expanded in a cost-efficient way. Budget Management is
taken into consideration in this respect, as the best decision was to switch from increasingly
high-investment capital expenditures to more manageable operational expenditures via a hosted
private cloud. By analyzing the limited budget and increased costs, the team considered the
proposed venture.
Because a large amount of critical information is being put at risk as a result of
outsourced hosting, Enterprise Information Management, Information Security Management,
Personal Data Protection need to be examined. The information management strategy would be
the migration of information to an outside resource via a private cloud. Thinking to future
endeavors, outsourcing communication software to a private cloud would also manage enterprise
information. Data backup can also be utilized as another important service to add onto the
project, strengthening personal data protection and information security management. Security
protocols need to be modeled to account for possible destruction or tampering of or with the
hosted data center location(s). Data protection regulations and standards should also be
constructed to manage data.
The project came about by reevaluating the Enterprise Architecture Management of Lone
Wolf. The in-house data center was not enough to effectively and efficiently adapt to the
expansion of the companys business objectives and needs, leading to its rethinking.
Implementing the cloud demands a risk management policy and supplier management protocols,
yielding correlations to the IT-CMFs Risk Management and Supplier Management capabilities.
The project is naturally a risk management strategy, considering its prevention of traffic issues
like server failure. Risk handling procedures from the perspective of another company like
Amazon possessing access to Lone Wolfs data need to be designed and put in place for
information security purposes. Also, a strong supplier relationship is crucial to ensure storage
management and security protocols are being handled appropriately.
Service Provisioning is integral to the successful implementation of the project. Cloud
development is a life cycle within itself and should be managed in accordance with its other IT-
CMF relations and dependencies. Configurations and service availability are additional
important facets to consider. There needs to be a service level agreement between the cloud
provider and Lone Wolf that outlines the performance needs and their fulfillment measurements
to ensure appropriate service is being delivered as expected.
Through Benefits Assessment and Realization, as mentioned earlier, the team believes
the positive side of cloud implementation outweighs the associated risks and costs. However,
numerical benefit cannot be truly realized until success criteria are put in place and adhered to.

Success Criteria and Metrics

 The ability to quantify for the future when knowing nothing about the future is extremely
challenging. One metric chosen to analyze the projects success is a ROI of the migration into
the new cloud system. Since cloud-based storage requires no physical hardware inside the
company, Lone Wolf can reduce the maintenance cost that is heavily associated with traditional
storage systems. Without the need of a physical hard drive containing all the companys data, the
move can also reduce the companys payroll by getting rid of associated physical maintenance
teams. Lone Wolf can also measure the saved energy costs by switching into the cloud system.
Traditionally, running the companys current storage system required a constant source of energy
which is associated with high electricity costs. However, when switching into the new cloud
based system the need would only require a constant connection with the third party vendor,
which will reduce the need to constantly run multiple resource-draining hardware.
The team can also measure the performance of the new cloud system by measuring the
average time it takes to retrieve the data from the third party cloud system vendor into the
companys day-to-day business operations. This will be measured by the time it takes to load in
the current operations compared to when switched over to the cloud system. Additionally this
would give the team insight into downtime when trying to retrieve data from the cloud-based
system. In this situation, time is certainly money and resources are wasted every time a client is
unable to pull up their data. Another option into seeing performance increase, is by seeing if
clients have seen any bad effects from the cloud based system. Because clients are the most
important factor in consideration, Lone Wolf must be able to effectively measure any unwanted
effects of the new cloud system. Its also worth noting that it is important to keep in mind to not
sacrifice too much performance even if it means a reduction in IT costs, since customers expect a
certain standards from Lone Wolf.
Although an anecdotal metric, the company can get a better understanding of the effects
of the cloud system by asking none other than the ones who will be affected by the infrastructure
change. By asking employees to fill in an anonymous survey asking to quickly review their
experience after the migration to the cloud based system, this can provide the IT team with
valuable information of how employees feel about the change. Although this would require them
to take some time from their work to focus on the survey, allowing employees to have a voice in
a major IT change would increase trust and productivity. Not only that, the team can also send
surveys to clients asking them if they have experienced any issues with the new cloud system
changes. Though, this option would require some incentives for clients for them to take some
time out of their day in participating with the survey. However, by gaining valuable insight into
how clients perceive the change, customer retention rate would increase, not to mention the
amount of valuable business insight.

ROI scorecard for IT infrastructure cloud system migration

Current Asset Expected Results Measure of IT Success
 Current standard Legacy System Cloud Based System $10,000 or less Reduction in costs can help save IT
$50,000 annually annually budget for future business
development

LoneWolf Technologies currently The discontinuation the need for Increased scalability and reliability
houses multiple physical hardware physical hardwares, clearing up by moving towards a cloud based
systems spaces for future development and storage
allows for unforeseen expansion

Multiple physical hardware Cloud based storage requires only Cost reduction in hardware
(Resource Intensive) steady connection with third party maintenance and reduction in cost of
vendor (Amazon, Autotask, Sync) hardware upgrades

LoneWolf Technologies currently Increased communications ability Less IT down time and system
operates within their own data center between employees located locally malfunctions and increased
and maintains physical hardwares. and internationally due to cloud employee productivity
based system

Current Market Share 90% in Increased market shares in United Increased per month user based
Canada, and breaking entry in the States subscription from both Canada and
United States. United States by 10%

Sample Employee Survey Questions (To be taken anonymously)

Sample Questions (Rated from 1 lowest to 5 highest) What this measures

How has the new cloud based system affected the day This measures any disruptions that the cloud based
to day business operations? system has on our employees and

How do you feel about the new cloud based system? By asking this question we can understand how our
workers feel about the new changes.

Do you approve of the CIOs decision to migrate the IT If asked effectively, we can gain insight into our
operations towards a cloud based system? employees attitude towards the higher powers.

Overall, how satisfied are you with the new IT changes? With this question we can understand the overall
communications from the effective CIO

Sample Client Survey Questions

Sample Questions (Rated from 1 lowest to 5 highest) What this measures

How would you describe our services after the cloud By asking this question we can see if there was any
system changes? noticeable effects after switching to the cloud based
storage.

Please describe, if any, how the cloud infrastructure has This question allows our clients to express any grief by
affected daily business operations. the new cloud changes.

How would you describe your experience after our IT By allowing clients to answer this, we can gain more
infrastructure change? insight into how our IT services are doing.

Overall, how satisfied are you with our services? This gives our clients a chance to express their attitude
towards our services, and company as a whole.
 In conclusion, Lone Wolf Technologies would benefit greatly from a cloud based system.
This option would free the company of any hardware maintenance that has been done
traditionally, and allows the company to have the ability to scale exponentially. Although the risk
of having malfunctions in the beginning is to be expected, the long term developmental benefits
outweighs any risks by far. More so, moving into the cloud based system would also align the
company with a multitude of IT-CMF capabilities. By having a set plan in preparing for the
future, Lone Wolf can expect steady business without any unwanted surprises.
 Appendix A: Team Member Contributions

(1) Nikunj Vashi Introduced and described technology and project type
(2) Armeen Aramoon Identified capabilities and benefits of the technology
(3) Diego Parra Identified risks and costs of the technology
(4) Jessica Butcher Described how the technology aligns with the IT-CMF
(5) Yoel Soewargo Described how to measure the success of the project and
conclusion
 Works Cited

Cloud Services Pricing Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon Web Services, Inc.,
aws.amazon.com/pricing/services/.