An Evaluation Framework for Migrating Application to the Cloud: Software as a Service Chekfoung Tan1, Kecheng Liu1, Lily Sun2 and Cameron Spence3 Informatics Research Centre, University of Reading, PO Box 241, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6WB, UK
[email protected],
[email protected] 2 School of Systems Engineering, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AY, UK
[email protected] 3 Enterprise Architect, Capgemini UK
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Abstract. Software as a Service (SaaS) is one of cloud computing offerings that attract organisations as a potential solution in reducing their IT cost. However, the functionality and reliability of the SaaS model is still questionable and raises concerns and hesitations in its adoption. This paper proposes a framework that enables an organisation to assess its current IT landscape and provides readiness assessment for SaaS adoption. The framework adapts Business Aligned IT Strategy (BAITS) methodology as its foundation. A case study of a local council in UK is used to validate the application of the methodology. Keywords: Software as a Service, Cloud Computing, Risk Assessment, Business-IT Alignment, Analysis and Strategy Method
1 Introduction Report [1] shows more than 75% of the annual IT budget is spent on the operation and management cost of IT applications in most organisations. CIOs are finding an average of 20% immediate cost savings within 12 months of implementation along with improved IT value positioning through the combination of application rationalisation effort [1]. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a potential option for adding to the cost saving initiative, when the rationalised applications are migrated to the cloud [2]. The savings are realised through the omission of any upfront investment in software license and infrastructure costs as the charges are incurred on a pay per usage basis. Still, there are concerns such as meeting technical requirements, security, ease of integration and functionality among SaaS consumers in adopting SaaS. This research aims to design a decision making method for adopting SaaS that aligns with the business and IT strategy of an organisation where IT cost saving is the main objective. The method first assesses the existing IT applications, then analyses the impact of SaaS implementation to the overall IT application landscape of the organisation by establishing the SaaS assessment which involves risk analysis prior to
adoption. The paper is structured as follow: Section 2 illustrates the proposed decision making method for SaaS adoption (DEMSA) and BAITS as its foundation. Section 3 narrates the application of DEMSA in practice through a local council in the UK. Section 4 draws the conclusion and suggestions for future works.
2 A Decision Making Method for SAAS Adoption (DEMSA) The decision making method for SaaS adoption (DEMSA) is a set of structural analysis methods that supports the decision making process for SaaS adoption with Business-Aligned IT Strategy (BAITS) framework [3] (shown in Figure 1) as the foundation. BAITS has been developed and adapted within Capgemini, using principles derived from The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), and benefiting from Problem Articulation Method (PAM) [3]. PAM is a method for requirements engineering with organisational semiotics as a foundation [4]. Organisational semiotics is the study of organisation using concepts and methods of semiotics [5]. DEMSA, as shown in Figure 2, is designed using a top-down approach and consists of four stages.
Fig. 1. BAITS framework [3]
Stage one: Business Service Architecture Analysis focuses on representing the knowledge of the organisation’s business service foundation, and consists of six analysis components. The valuation for both business services and IT applications is in a questionnaire format where the valuation criterion is assigned with a weighting factor agreed between the consultants and the client sponsor. Stakeholders are then asked to rate each criteria using a Likert scale of 0 to 5. The valuation implements threshold values to serve as the benchmarking to determine the overall value of the business services and IT application. The threshold value is usually agreed by the sponsor or other senior stakeholder. The computation of the values together with the result interpretation for both business services and IT application is shown in table 1.
Stage One: Business Services Architecture Analysis • Business Domain Analysis • Stakeholder Analysis • Business Services Portfolio • Business Services Valuation • IT Application Portfolio • IT Application Valuation Stage Two: IS Services Analysis • IS Services (First Evaluation Analysis) • IS Services (Second Evaluation Analysis) Stage Three: SaaS Assessment • SaaS Assessment • SaaS Risk Assessment Stage Four: SaaS Adoption Summary • SaaS Adoption Summary
Fig. 2. DEMSA framework
Stage Two: IS Services Analysis focuses on application rationalisation by evaluating the IS services performance derived in the previous stage and leading to a decision as to the IT applications that could potentially be replaced with SaaS solutions, and delivering business value to the organization. This stage has two analysis components, IS services (First Evaluation Analysis) and IS services (Second Evaluation Analysis). IS Services (First Evaluation Analysis) is the component that evaluates the criticality of the IT application in the relationship between the business services and IT application portfolio. The evaluation result is based on a logical interpretation by comparing the business criticality (BC) and IT application value (ITAV). If multiple priorities exist within a combination then the highest priority value will be returned as the result. The application recommendation is: Remove, if (BC = low) ∩ (ITAV = low); Replace/Redevelop, if {(BC = low) ∩ {(ITAV = high) ∪ (ITAV = medium)}} ∪ {(BC = medium) ∩ {(ITAV = high) ∪ (ITAV = medium) ∪ (ITAV = low)}} ∪ {(BC = high) ∩ {(ITAV = low) ∪ (ITAV = medium)}}; Remain, if (BC = high) ∩ (ITAV = high). The IS Services (Second Evaluation Analysis) populates IT applications where the “First Evaluation” equals to “Replace / Redevelop” and “Application Type” is equal to the application categories for SaaS deployment suggested by Gartner [6]. Stage Three: SaaS Assessment consists of two analysis components, SaaS Assessment and SaaS Risk Assessment. Stage Four: SaaS Adoption Summary delivers the final outcomes from all the analysis and recommendations for the IT applications that should remain or be replaced by considering the stakeholder’s decision. DEMSA enhances the business services structure from BAITS by providing a business services portfolio that enables practitioners to see all business services and their criticality within an organisation. In addition, total cost of ownership (TCO) element is built in DEMSA. The business services and IT application valuation have been reworked to
adopt a standard rating scale, descriptions and result interpretation. This enables consistent results when mapping business services and IT application values. A threshold element has been added to allow organisations to prioritise services based upon their own criteria. Table 1. Business services and IT application valuation result interpretation Valuation Low
Computation x < (Threshold Lowest Rating) / 2
Medium
(Highest Rating threshold) / 2 ‘0’ or ‘0’ if: total number of ‘1’ < ‘0’.
This follows by the cost comparison analysis which requires two cost values for each IT applications, the current application cost and the estimated SaaS deployment cost. The logic to derive the ‘Cost Comparison’ value is: ‘1’ if: SaaS deployment cost < Current application cost or ‘0’ if: SaaS deployment cost > Current application cost. The SaaS readiness and Cost Comparison values are then populated into the SaaS Adoption Summary Analysis, producing a summary that contains recommendations for future status of the IT applications (remain/replaced). The recommendations are derived by mapping the SaaS readiness and cost comparison results produced in the previous analysis. The logic for the mapping is as follow: If value of “SaaS readiness” and “Cost comparison” is ‘1’, ‘Recommendation’ returns ‘Replace’, otherwise, ‘Recommendation’ returns ‘Remain’. In summary, this method suggests that 8 applications are recommended to be “replaced” with SaaS based applications and 12 applications will “remain” as-is.
4 Conclusions and Future Work DEMSA has successfully incorporated scientific decision making methods by effectively gauging the decision tree concept and risk factors in the decisions for SaaS implementations with BAITS as its foundation. The derivation of the analysis components in DEMSA are generalised in order to meet the basic requirements for SaaS implementation in an organisation. The current relationship between the business service and IT application entity is based on the logical interpretation. The use of data mining method is proposed for further enhancement on DEMSA to study relationship model that can fit the organisation’s requirements at different threshold values. Currently, DEMSA only focuses on SaaS adoption. It is suggested that the technical component should be assessed, especially when dealing with applications that have multiple interfaces with other applications. Acknowledgments: Dr Sam Chong, former Sector CTO at Capgemini is acknowledged for his practical advises in this research.
References 1.Oracle, Benefits of Application Rationalization: Reduce Costs and Improve Service with a Systematic Approach. 2009, Oracle Corporation, CA. 2.Mimecast, Cloud Computing Adoption Survey. 2010, Mimecast, UK. 3.CEAR, Business Aligned IT Strategy (BAITS) – Methodology and User Guide. 2009, Capgemini Enterprise Architecture Research (CEAR), University of Reading. UK. 4.Stamper, R. Social norms in requirements analysis: an outline of MEASUR. 1994: Academic Press Professional, Inc. 5.Liu, K., Semiotics in information systems engineering. 2000: Cambridge Univ Pr. 6.Gartner, User Survey Analysis: Software as a Service, Enterprise Application Markets, Worldwide, 2008. 2008, Gartner, Inc.
