Microsoft has come up with a new Cloud services named Due Diligence Checklist to help its customers in the decision on which cloud procurement to go with.
Even after it cloud computing has been accepted as the way to go now when it comes to storing information in the cloud, many companies are yet to come to terms with it and which provider or providers to go with as well as how to manage it.
According to an analyst for principal standards at Microsoft in a blog post, Li, businesses that have started making use of cloud computing in multiple cases are yet to overcome all the inconsistencies and challenges that it comes with.
The company said that they are aware that companies will want answers to issues like where the data will be located and secured and if it will continue to be available even when it is not on premises anymore. They also said that such organizations will want to know how the regulatory obligations will be met as well as how private and protected will the sensitive data that the customers have will be.
Li’s argument is that before any company that is interested in procuring the services of cloud computing and also to compare and assess the different levels of service that the providers are offering, the company in question need to first of all identify their own requirements and objectives in clear terms.
Streamlining Cloud Procurement with Microsoft’s Due Diligence Checklist
Amid the challenges faced by businesses in the realm of cloud computing, Microsoft’s Due Diligence Checklist, complemented by its Cloud Computing Training program, offers a powerful solution to enhance cloud procurement decisions. As companies seek to harness the benefits of cloud services while grappling with provider selection and resource management, Microsoft’s checklist introduces a systematic approach.
This checklist confronts the prevalent concerns that have often hindered organizations from fully embracing cloud computing. These concerns include data security and location, continuous data availability post-migration, and adherence to regulatory obligations. In response to these challenges, Microsoft emphasizes the importance of clear identification of an organization’s requirements and objectives before diving into cloud procurement decisions. This checklist fills the void that previously left many organizations without structured guidance, leading them to select cloud providers without a comprehensive evaluation. Microsoft’s Due Diligence Checklist empowers businesses by providing a standardized framework for assessing cloud service providers, ensuring informed and strategic decision-making.
Many organizations are yet to come up with a structure that will help them get guidance and set objectives that will help them in making such decision. Because such checklist was before now lacking, such companies have no choice but to go with just about any developer without knowing it is a good choice or otherwise which is what Microsoft’s checklist will do for them henceforth.
For the purpose of the checklist, Microsoft employed the services of Forrester Consulting to carry out the study. The findings revealed that organizations do not have a standard to gauge the services of cloud computing provider so as to make the right decision on which to go with. The study also revealed that the terms that are missing can have an important or serious impact while also finding out that consistent contracting results in better quality control, improved project delivery and also increase in profitability among others.
With Microsoft’s checklist, this issue will be no more as organizations will be better informed when they are considering moving to cloud computing. With the checklist, customers will also be able to identify the service, their performance, the requirements, management, data and governance objectives. With it too, service providers can be compared by companies.
The company’s checklist is based on ISO- International Organisation for Standardization and was a member of the panel that set it up.
With the checklist, major decision-makers will partake in evaluating the providers of cloud services. Any potential issue that stands a chance to become serious with the cloud project will be identified upfront with the checklist.
In the study that Forrester carried it out, 94% of the companies that were surveyed were of the opinion that they would make some adjustments to their terms of agreement for their cloud computing.
All in all, the checklist is expected to make negotiations between companies and the cloud service providers easier with the companies having access to the best quality available.
