Is Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization?

1. Is Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? Jeff Becraft, Solution Engineer AT&T Hosting & Application Services jeff.becraft@att.comhttp://twitter.com/jeffbecraft http://facebook.com/BecraftsBlog http://www.BecraftsBlog.com

2. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

3. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

4. Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Why might you host and manage on-premises? • You have only a single location (i.e., LAN connectivity only) and limited or no WFH • You already have sophisticated, mature, strategically located data center assets that you want to continue to invest in • You already have a well-rounded SharePoint team in-house (technical, admin, information architect, helpdesk, et al.) • For SharePoint and related infrastructure, you have a 99.9% uptime Service Level Agreement with IT and they are meeting it consistently • You have an effective SOP for Change Management that provides auditability of notable changes to your SharePoint environment • “We need to manage all of our stuff ourselves”

5. Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Why might you host and manage with a provider? • You have numerous locations in multiple regions (largely WAN or Internet connectivity) and/or many WFH • You lack sophisticated, mature, modern data center assets that are strategically located with your users • SharePoint technology and your SharePoint content are not well-understood by those currently tasked with supporting it • You wish to have a well-rounded SharePoint team at your disposal, but don’t have time or resources to recruit, hire, train and retain scarce SharePoint expertise • Internal IT is unable to meet your uptime and performance SLA requirements consistently • Currently Change Management is inadequate or non-existent • “We don’t want to be in the hosting business.”

6. Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Why might you do both? • You want to manage certain highly sensitive content in a very particular way, but other content doesn’t have such strict requirements (works in either direction!) • You want LAN users to be able to access certain content over the high speed network, but remote and WFH users just need to access it over the Internet with a VPN connection • SharePoint technology and/or your SharePoint content are not well-understood by those tasked with supporting it. You need knowledgeable people minding your most important stuff • You only have time and resources to recruit, hire, train and retain SharePoint expertise for certain key functions • Internal IT is unable to meet your 99.9% SLA consistently for content that requires it, however some content doesn’t have such strict requirements

7. Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Why might you do both? (Continued) • Governance/Change Management is inadequate or non-existent where it counts, yet isn’t a major concern for a large portion of your content • You have different needs for your intranet and extranet users, and want to provide different levels of support for each • You want to use SharePoint as both an internal collaboration system, but also as a web site CMS system. You do not want to host the web site • “We are intrigued by the option of getting hosting and management from a provider, but want to ‘try it out’ first.”

8. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

9. Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • Wait…. What exactly is a multi-tenant solution? • “Multitenancy refers to a principle in software architecture where a single instance of the software runs on a server, serving multiple client organizations (tenants)… With a multitenant architecture, a software application is designed to virtually partition its data and configuration so that each client organization works with a customized virtual application instance.” • “Multitenancy is contrasted with multi-instance architecture where separate software instances (or hardware systems) are set up for different client organizations.” • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-tenant

10. Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? Is there a 3rd option? • “An increasingly viable alternative route to multitenancy that eliminates the need for significant architectural change is to use virtualization technology to host multiple isolated instances of an application on one or more servers.” • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-tenant

11. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

12. If we make the leap… What do we lose? • Details can vary significantly by provider and hosting model… • Soask questions!

13. If we make the leap… What do we gain? • Details can vary significantly by provider and hosting model… • Soask questions!

14. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

15. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Service Level Agreements • Do you provide a 99.9% or higher Service Level Agreement for uptime? Does that include SharePoint itself? What about Windows, SQL Server, the infrastructure, the network? • Do you offer any performance SLAs for the network and/or SharePoint itself? • What other Service Level Agreements do you offer? • What is the contractual penalty to the vendor for missing SLAs? • How have you designed your infrastructure to ensure that you do not miss these SLAs? • What level of customization is available without eliminating the SLA? Can you support 3rd party and custom code?

16. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Security/Compliance • How is single sign-on access to SharePoint achieved? • How is secure connectivity “from anywhere” achieved? • Are your data center operations audited for SAS 70 Type II compliance, and/or other appropriate standards? PCI, HIPAA, ITAR, etc? Can we see your audit reports? • Do you have an audited, layered security model that encompasses the application itself, as well as the logical, network and physical security of the solution as a whole? • If we want to perform pen testing with an external provider, can you accommodate that? • Which components of your offering are within your direct control, and which do you sub-contract with external companies for?

17. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Connectivity/Bandwidth • Where are the primary and DR data centers located? Is replication bandwidth already included? • How much bandwidth is allocated for this solution? • How are my bandwidth costs calculated? • How are bursts/overages billed? • Do you offer WAN optimization capabilities? • Do you offer Content Delivery Network capabilities?

18. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Solution Design • Is your solution multi-tenant? Dedicated? A hybrid? • Does your solution offer full-featured SharePoint or a reduced feature set? • What level(s) of redundancy is included? • How does your solution provide High Availability? • What level of DR is included? What levels are optional? • Can we re-use our existing software licenses? • Has the solution been designed to incorporate infrastructure that exists for applications we already host with you? • Can parts of this solution’s infrastructure be leveraged for other hosted solutions in the future?

19. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Support • How are admin privileges divided between our organization and yours? Which admin tasks are included in our monthly fees? • How can we access support resources in your organization? Toll-free number? Email? Web portal? All? • Is there a distinct individual we can call for escalations who stays well-informed about our specific solution and business needs? • How much detail and support information is available on your web support portal?

20. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Maintenance • How are critical patches coordinated and deployed? • How are non-critical patches coordinated and deployed? • How about 3rd party web parts? • Custom code? • What forms of proactive and reactive monitoring are included/available? When alerts fire off, who reacts and how fast? How is status communicated to our team? • When we need assistance beyond the scope of our hosting and management contract, what options are available within your organization, and with external partners/providers?

21. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Pricing/Contracting • What are the initial setup fees, and what will we pay each month? • Can we manage our upfront/CapEx costs by financing initial setup fees over the term by adjusting the monthly fees accordingly? • Are migration costs already included in the setup and/or monthly fees? • What variable fees may apply? (e.g., bandwidth, storage) • How will potential scale up and scale out accounted for in pricing and monthly fees? • Will we receive a contracted fee schedule for capacity increases, professional services, recurring specialized needs, etc?

22. What questions should we be asking potential providers? • …and • keep asking questions • until you are completely comfortablewith the provider’s capabilities, advantages, limitations, expertise, and solution design!

23. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

24. Who are the leading providers? The Gartner “Leaders Quadrant” forWeb Hosting and Hosted Cloud Infrastructure Services Magic Quadrant for Web Hosting and Hosted Cloud Infrastructure Services (On Demand) by Lydia Leong, Ted Chamberlin (07/02/09) is copyrighted by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This Magic Quadrant graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research note and should be evaluated in the context of the entire report. The Gartner report is available upon request from AT&T.

25. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

26. How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • Do you have a current consulting provider for your on-premises SharePoint solution(s)? Do they partner with a leading hosting provider? • Can they provide this service themselves at the level you require? • Can they make a well-reasoned recommendation of a specific provider(s) or guide you through the vendor selection process? • Does your consulting provider leverage a leading provider’s hosting platform through an existing alliance partnership?

27. How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • Do you already have other applications hosted with a leading hosting provider(s)? • Does the provider already host Exchange for you? How about OCS? • Does the provider host any other SharePoint-integrated applications, such as Project Server, Dynamics apps or Commerce Server for you? • Are you likely to integrate other applications hosted by the provider into your SharePoint portal over time? • Does the provider offer hosting and management of other applications in your IT portfolio that you may want to outsource in a similar fashion later? (Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, etc.)

28. How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? Do you have existing contracts for other services (software, hardware, telecom, networking, mobile devices, other) with any leading hosting providers? • Is this service already available to you on an existing pricing schedule from this provider? • Does the ability to leverage an existing master agreement with this provider simplify the procurement process for your organization? • Do you stand to benefit from purchasing additional services with that provider in the form of discounts on hosted SharePoint and/or certain other services?

29. How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? To cut down on latency, does the provider have a data center(s) available to host your application, that is in regional proximity to your user base? • Does the provider own and/or control multiple data centers around the globe that are relevant to your key locations? • Does the provider manage your networking and/or WAN? • Is WAN optimization easy to include in the solution? • Is the use of a Content Delivery Network a useful tool for improving performance of downloads? Does the provider offer a CDN?

30. AgendaIs Outsourcing the Hosting and Management of Our SharePoint Solution the Right Choice for My Organization? • Should we host on-premises or with a provider? (Can we do both?) • Do we need a dedicated solution, or is multi-tenant going to work for our needs? • If we make the leap, what do we lose?  What do we gain? • What questions should we be asking potential providers? • Who are the leading providers? • How do we select the right provider for our unique needs? • How do we make the business case internally?

31. How do we make the business case internally? • Describe the business need and how it contributes to the overall business strategy • Compliance • Higher quality support for important extranet users • Centralization of SharePoint “in the wild” • Easier allocation of IT support costs for charging back to business units • “We do not want to be in the data center business.”

32. How do we make the business case internally? • Explain why the decision to move to outsourced hosting is timely • Want to align upgrade to SharePoint 2010 with ongoing outsourcing strategy • New acquisition looming, integration of legacy content will add users who are geographically dispersed • Recent staff reductions have highlighted need for better enterprise content and knowledge management

33. How do we make the business case internally? • Describe the key benefits your organization will receive • Centralization of SharePoint • Governance • Compliance • Simplified Management • More time for internal IT to focus on strategic initiatives • Easy access to a team of experts with deep knowledge of all functional and technical aspects of your solution (network, platform, Windows, Active Directory, SQL Server, SharePoint, 3rd party admin tools and web parts, et al.)

34. How do we make the business case internally? • Describe the key risks and how they are mitigated • Security concerns • SAS 70 and other audits • layered security model • patch strategy • Performance concerns • dynamic scaling of solution • network connectivity • performance SLA • Long-term viability of the provider • track record in the industry • current excellence • future-looking roadmap for SharePoint and other applications in your IT portfolio

35. How do we make the business case internally? Identify the critical success factors for your organization and how they will be measured, such as… • Target utilization of SharePoint for large files will reduce Exchange storage requirements by X% within 1 year (measured via Exchange) • Improved end user performance (measured by page load times from several points around the world that are relevant to your organization) will increase productivity for remote offices • Lossless migration of content from older, on-premises version of SharePoint to provider-hosted SharePoint • Includes both High Availability primary environment and DR in a geographically distinct data center

36. How do we make the business case internally? • Identify the main stakeholders • The broader the impact on the business, the better, but beware the appearance of this being an overwhelming task or initiative • Note the name of the most senior sponsor for this initiative and of course be certain you have his/her full buy-in • Look beyond IT to note the business units, teams, and types of users that are going to receive direct productivity improvements because of this solution

37. How do we make the business case internally? • Describe how the proposed solution meets the organization’s objectives and current priorities Examples • CIO has indicated that the organization will not continue to build out and maintain its own data centers • Executive team wishes to provide IT services to the business units using a chargeback model. Hosting and management can help facilitate this process. • IT staff lacks people, skills, focus for SharePoint maintenance, enhancement, end user training and ongoing support • Geographically dispersed user community requires round-the-clock support, but IT is not staffed to support accordingly • Compliance requirements for the organization favor clear separation of duties between administrative staff, development team, and end users • Current SharePoint on-premise solution lacks effective governance that hosting and management brings • Provide rationale for trade-offs in choosing multi-tenant vs. dedicated

38. How do we make the business case internally? Provide cost/benefit analysis (be realistic!) • Compare costs to hire, train and retain appropriate depth of SharePoint expertise for advanced SharePoint work internally vs. tapping into provider team only as needed • Compare costs to provide round-the-clock support capabilities internally vs. provider • Compare costs to build and maintain infrastructure and servers internally vs. leveraging provider’s existing platform • Demonstrate ease of facilitating chargeback model with business units based upon vendor’s billing mechanism • Consider value of leveraging CapEx vs. OpEx budgets for line items including software licensing • Consider savings resulting from elimination of obsolete systems (e.g., Lotus, eRoom, etc.)

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