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CHECKLIST
As your organization prepares for the move to the cloud, you can
feel confident knowing that we bring the expertise required to
assess the current state of your infrastructure and applications, and
help you design and implement your cloud.
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Cloud Readiness Checklist
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Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 5
CHECKLIST STEPS ................................................................................................................. 5
Notes ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Step 1: Outline Business Goals .............................................................................................................. 8
Step 2: Perform Infrastructure Assessment........................................................................................... 9
Software Licenses .................................................................................................................................. 9
Physical Hardware ................................................................................................................................ 9
Purchased Software ........................................................................................................................... 10
Developed Software.......................................................................................................................... 10
Skills Assessment.................................................................................................................................. 11
Step 3: Evaluate Results ....................................................................................................................... 12
Step 4: Define Project .......................................................................................................................... 13
Step 5: Develop Project Plan .............................................................................................................. 14
Step 6: Build Baseline Cloud ............................................................................................................... 15
Step 7: Develop and Test .................................................................................................................... 16
Step 8: Go Live ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Step 9: Implement Post-Go-Live Plan ................................................................................................ 18
Step 10: Hold Post-Go-Live Reviews ................................................................................................. 19
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 20
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INTRODUCTION
This document, sponsored by Seaside Software Solutions, provides a 10-point checklist for moving to the
cloud. We hope that you find this information helpful, and that you consider working with Seaside Software
Solutions (a Microsoft Partner), as you begin your move to the cloud.
The document contains a series of checklists that help define your business goals and desired capabilities,
outline the status of your infrastructure (servers, software, services), and understand the set of skills that exist
in your organization in regard to a move to the cloud.
CHECKLIST STEPS
The following table outlines the general set of steps used to plan for and implement a move to the cloud. The
steps and participants for individual organizations will vary, but these steps can serve as a guideline.
4 Define Project Define the scope of the project to begin Executive Team
moving to the cloud. This includes features and Business Team
functionality, high-level steps, timeline, and Technology Team
budget.
5 Develop Project Plan In this step, a detailed project plan is Business Team
developed. This includes the Technology Team
features/applications/databases to be
implanted in the cloud, and the steps to Reviewed by:
develop/migrate/implement. This also includes Executive Team
developing a post-production support process.
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Notes
Moving to the cloud is not an all-or-nothing event. There are normally multiple projects phases during which
functionality is implemented. The implementation of a “hybrid cloud” allows you to keep some applications on
premise (as they exist today) and some in the cloud. This allows you to move step-by-step to the cloud while
maintaining business continuity.
The tables in this document are designed to help get you started assembling the necessary information to
prepare for a move to the cloud. If your organization already has mechanisms in place to inventory servers,
software, etc., there is no need to fill out the tables in this document, but instead you can utilize the inventory
reports generated by these systems. Excel is the preferred format for inventory reports whenever possible.
Building a full inventory of licenses, servers and software can be a daunting task, especially for organizations
where not much is documented. If you have a large number of undocumented servers and software
applications, start by listing the ones most closely associated with the business processes that you are
considering moving to the cloud.
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3
4
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Software Licenses
List of software licenses that the company owns. This includes manufacturer, name of the software, version,
purchase date, license expiration date, cost (if known), and any comments you have about the software.
For example:
Physical Hardware
List of the company’s physical hardware. Includes workstations, servers, network devices, backup devices, and
any other hardware that you feel is important. If you have a great deal of hardware (larger numbers of
servers, a large number of network and backup devices, etc.), summarize as opposed to listing each
separately.
For example:
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Purchased Software
This is the list of purchased software actively used in your company. Includes applications such as Microsoft
Office, QuickBooks, etc. If your workstations or servers came pre-installed with software that you definitely do
not use, leave that software off of the list.
For example:
Intuit QuickBooks Handle customer taxes. Would like to have a way besides
Import tax information sent email for customers to send
via email by customers. information.
Developed Software
List the software developed by your organization or a third party developer for use in your organization. For
example, your IT department may have developed desktop or web-based applications, or a third party
company may have developed an application for you.
For example:
Timekeeping Desktop Visual Studio 2004 Used by employees Need rewriting. Developed by
System Application 2003 / VB to enter hours Would like to third party in
integrate with our Visual Studio
payroll system. 2003.
Customer Service Mainframe COBOL and 1977 Handles customer Cannot enhance (too
Application Application DB2 service for 4000 old/no skills in house)
customers
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Skills Assessment
List the skills in place in the organization relative to implementing and maintain a cloud computing
environment. Also list areas where they are challenges.
For example:
Skill Details
Development Our developer currently use Visual Studio 2010 but have not done anything with the cloud.
Database Most of our databases are SQL Server 2008. Our database developers are very good and we have a team that
supports our 80 SQL Server databases.
Mainframe We have a mainframe that runs older but important applications (COBOL/DB2), but only have a couple of people that
can support it.
Skill Details
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In regard to the project implementation, start by building a list of the features that will be implemented in the
cloud (functionality/applications/databases/etc.), prioritizing the features based on a number of factors
including complexity, timeline, and cost, and developing a point-by-point technical implementation and
business transition plan (if required) for each.
Next, determine which feature will be implemented, and on what timeline (for example, one or more phases).
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Developing a project plan can be complex, and there are many choices of tools. Microsoft Project is a great
tool, but we have also seen very (very) complex project plans effectively implemented in Excel.
Once the initial project plan is completed it should be stored and versioned. For example, a SharePoint site
can be created for the project and the project plan stored on this site. This type of approach makes it easier
to view the plan, handle versioning, and manage security (who can view/edit the plan).
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The items implemented in the baseline build depend on the size of the organization and number of
applications, databases, etc. For example, a baseline version could include some or all of the following:
Once these elements are in place there should be an end-to-end review with all teams present. This is key to
helping people in the organization understand what is being implemented (versus thinking of the cloud as
being something “out there somewhere” that they don’t understand).
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Step 8: Go Live
As testing completes, systems are moved to “production”. As mentioned earlier, this can be an iterative process
(in steps or phases), versus all at once.
- An end-to-end go-live timeline should be developed. This lists everything that is happening in regard to
going live, and when it happens. Ideally, this should be practiced in the form of a “table top drill” (act
like you are taking the steps but don’t really take them) to make sure that the necessary coordination is in
place.
- Depending on how each system is implemented there can be a conversion of data (movement of data
from the old system to the new system) prior to go live.
- The old and new systems may run in parallel for a period of time. Once the new cloud system is
operating as expected, the old system is either turned off, or set to read-only.
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Additionally, this is the point at which the system support plan should be put into place.
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As issues are identified they should be put on a list (a ‘bug tracking system’ accessible by everyone is a good
approach).
It is important to take time during these sessions to understand issues, because they can be opportunities in
disguise.
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CONCLUSION
This document, sponsored by Seaside Software Solutions, provides a 10-point checklist for moving to the
cloud. We hope that you find this information helpful, and that you consider working with Seaside Software
Solutions, a Microsoft Partner, as you begin your move to the cloud.
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