New to Cloud

The early days were full of hype and buzz. Myths about reliability and control were driven by a lack of consensus on what cloud actually was. You’re right to be cautious when this hype is often coupled with a lack of understanding about how it supports long-term business plans.

At its most simple – the cloud is a term that describes access to software, applications, and infrastructure without hosting them all onsite. Your business becomes accessible anywhere, anytime, on a number of devices. The cost of maintaining software and infrastructure is centralised.

Whether to choose a public, private or hybrid solution is determined by your digital strategy.

Public:

• Requires less individualised configuration.
• Easy entry point.
• Available over the internet from a range of third-party providers.
• In-house servers are not required.

Private:

• Perfect for organisations handling sensitive IP
• Tailored to meet individual needs.
• Secure environment which can only be accessed by the specified.
• Requires in-house servers to house the data centre.

Hybrid:

• Best of both worlds.
• Common starting point due to the increased flexibility.

Four hours of bite sized education modules will empower you with the knowledge needed to understand the hybrid cloud landscape. Furthermore, you’ll be able to use it to your advantage as you navigate efficiently through all cycles of business growth. With Qirx in a Box you’ll save weeks of research and hit the ground running.

Your business will move through several stages of digital maturity as it grows. These stages typically fall into six areas or lifecycles which we have mapped into the pillars that Qirx in a Box is organised around.

Addressing these technology pillars gives you the optimum cloud experience; one that supports business growth and efficiency.

1. Virtualisation is the first step toward a cloud based infrastructure and establishing a solid virtual foundation for your IT structure.
2. Availability and protection ensure a system that will support business continuity and disaster recovery should the worst occur.
3. Performance is the process of measuring and optimising the efficiency of IT delivery.
4. Security enables the implementation of a tailored approach to security that is fit for purpose to effectively protect against internal and external threats to data.
5. End-user computing brings an organisation seamlessly into the virtual environment by using virtualisation to remove the headache of incompatible infrastructure.
6. Management & Automation emphasises policies and processes which create a consistent, efficient environment across virtual and physical infrastructure.

Qirx in a Box breaks down each lifecycle and supplies the training, resources and templates required to manage them. Over 150 individual resources are provided to successfully design, develop and deliver a hybrid cloud that will evolve with your business.

All at a fraction of the cost of employing a real consultant.

Take a tour of the Value Demonstrator to understand the lifecycle pillars and the cost of contracting an external consultant to deliver each item.

The competitive advantage of moving to the cloud means that you risk being left behind by not embracing the technology. The flexibility to work from anywhere and increased capacity for collaboration mean that you’re in a position to build the best team possible – regardless of factors like time zones or type of device. It’s a reliable environment that adjusts to suit your individual organisational needs.

When disaster strikes, and it will happen to most people at some point, having your data in the cloud means a straightforward recovery process. The impact of downtime is reduced ensuring that your operations are not affected.

And when it comes to operating costs, you can’t beat the cloud. The reduced capital expenditure on hardware is reduced along with the costs associated with maintaining and upgrading software.

These are just some of the benefits you’ll reap through cloud based computing. The competitive advantage from being agile and scale up or down as required puts you in the position to maximise market opportunities as they arise.

Time moves fast in the world of technology. If your competitors are already in the cloud you’re probably fighting a tangible sense of dread that you’ll never catch up. Every day that you wait means falling further behind and looking to external sources can extend the process indefinitely.

Take control of the situation with Qirx in a Box. We’ve compressed years of expertise into a resource that will have you up to speed in a fraction of the time it would take to do the research and planning yourself. With modulated training, documentation and templates at your fingertips, you have everything needed to design and deliver the right cloud based solution for your organisation.

The lifestyle pillars and detailed information modules that accompany them will integrate the infrastructure across all areas of the business in a logical, systematic way. It’s designed to save you time by emphasising the sharing of knowledge between teams when it is most needed.

It’s not too late with Qirx in a Box by your side. It’s a strategic tool enabling you to define your vision, develop a business case, educate management on the need to move fast and create a strategic framework for the remainder of the journey.

Everything you do in the business environment throws up risks. Operating in the cloud has some specific risks but these can be identified and addressed before they become an issue.

Risks to be aware of include:

• Not having infrastructure aligned with your business strategy and vision.
• Lacking staff with the skills to design, deliver and manage your environment.
• Not following a proven path to design the environment your organisation needs for full efficiency
• Failing to address all aspects of the lifecycle pillars.
• Not understanding the security weak spots of your organisation.
• Working with technology partners without being an informed customer.
• Not integrating knowledge and processes across all stakeholders.

Qirx in a Box is designed to mentor you through the process at all lifecycles of digital maturity. You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that with over 150 individual resources to fall back on the potential for costly, time-consuming risks are mitigated. Using proven planning and development methods limits risk and mistakes – the same ones that could trip up your competitors in the future.

There’s more to designing and implementing a comprehensive, tailored cloud infrastructure than technical knowledge. You need systems, processes and procedures in place that are simple and easy to follow. That’s where the expertise in Qirx in a Box has you covered.

Moving to the cloud isn’t as daunting as people make out. Having said that, it’s crucial that anyone in the organisation can pick up the map and move forward if needed. Spend time and effort planning your rollout with the documentation in the Qirx in a Box package. Having access to over 14 years of expertise in developing and delivering cloud based solutions will have you celebrating a smooth, secure transition before you know it.

In a market where cloud specialists are scare, knowledge is power. Qirx in a Box is a comprehensive resource designed to turn you into a cloud expert.

• Save weeks of research with over four hours of educational videos delivered by topic experts. These are bite-sized enabling you to rapidly assimilate the knowledge gained by Qirx over the past 14 years. Take advantage of these to develop a sound understanding of the hybrid cloud landscape and how best to navigate it.
• Take advantage of a range of business requirement templates to clarify business needs and meet the goals set by your executive team. Bringing a consultant in for this process could take up to 20 days of billable time. Qirx in a Box empowers your team to do it for a fraction of the cost.
• Access comprehensive documentation that identifies the best structure, explains the information to be collected and shows you how to go about it. The outcome is a high quality, professional document that captures all of your business requirements.
• Complex projects need a Business Case. The Qirx in a Box member area lets you retrieve the documents and templates that you need to develop a Business Case for each of the six cloud lifecycle pillars plus, a cost calculator to nail down the budget. Bringing the Business Case development in-house will save up to 18 days of consultancy fees.

If you choose to outsource to third parties from here, you can do so with the foundational knowledge to maintain control of your project. You’ll have the clarity and supporting documentation to clearly articulate business needs. As a result, you’ll secure the best outcome for your organisation now, and long into the future

To ensure that your vision is brought to life on time and fit for purpose Qirx in a Box also includes the following templates and resources:

• User and Functionality requirements
• Functionality and Skills Gap analysis tools
• Project Management templates
• Technical Design specs
• Test and delivery documentation
• Cost calculator

When brought together these 150+ individual resources ensure your team intimately understands your cloud. By cultivating in-house cloud expertise you can maintain control of the process. Staffing costs are reduced and knowledge sharing is enhanced for long-term benefits.