Why Cloud Cost Cutting is hard
It’s no secret that the CFO’s playbook for cost cutting involves these core tactics: Labor costs are the easiest target to attack with the hope that the remaining staff will figure out how to absorb…
Why Cloud Cost Cutting is hard
If you’re serious…
Would it be a bad idea to stop pretending that challenges resolve themselves? Every firm has challenges they purposely avoid. Are you facing any of these examples? An incompetent leader who accomplishes nothing but is…
Data Center Migration Cost Model Example
Costs still matter when migrating data centers Budgets are often imprecise during the early phases of a data center migration. By tracking uncertainty, you can refine the elements that need more work and make incremental…
Edge Data Center Migration
Isn’t that on-premise, corporate data center already closest where data is generated and consumed? On-premise is the Edge. It’s time to optimize that resource.
Announcing Free Training to Write a Data Center Migration RFP
Why did I create this crash course for writing data center migration RFPs? During the rescue swims I’ve done for clients, I’ve seen that a poorly constructed RFP and subsequent bad vendor selection is a…
The Obvious Truth about Application Migrations
Morning came secretly, dreary and cold. The overcast that would last all day could not be seen inside the data center. The previous 16 hours were brutal and contentious. One by one, each application was…
Announcing the Data Center Migration Checklist
Available on Kindle This primer is aimed at project managers new to data center migrations and organized for quick consumption. What is the purpose of a checklist? A checklist helps guide the practitioner through a…
Are You Trailblazing Through The Cloud Adoption Roadblocks?
As a senior manager, you are expected to lead and establish the role cloud computing should play in your firm. But, what are the roadblocks to that expectation? You face an ocean of choices from…
How Much Should Your Data Center Move Cost?
$1.2 million dollars? If you don’t care about the process you use, the complexity of the move, or the consequences of inaccurate projections, does it really matter what number you place on your PowerPoint slide?…
Rehearse for Success
Move rehearsals are the best method for improving the confidence in your execution team, but this only works if you are vigilant about detecting the hand waving and false answers. Data center move rehearsals are…
Forming Application Bundles for Migration
The elusive clear picture of the business environment supported by interdependent applications rarely emerges without a deep dive into those applications. Frameworks and methodologies can only take the practitioner so far. Eventually, subject matter experts will…
Executive Guide to Cloud Migration
It is expected that senior management take the lead and establish the role cloud computing should play in their organization. The emergent problem is that buyers face an ocean of choices from sellers of cloud…
Defining a Data Center Move Project
Most data center moves are exercises in trade-offs. You won’t have enough resources, money, or time to complete the data center move. In fact, your shot clock is likely already running by the time you…
What’s Your Cloud Migration Strategy?
Emily was unsatisfied with her firm’s progress migrating to the Cloud. Her dashboard metrics showed few applications made it to the cloud with Legacy applications remaining stubbornly on-premise. While our conversation uncovered some of the root…
Data Center Site Selection: One-Size-Fits-All is Nonexistent
What is one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle for your successful data center relocation? Consider what a thoroughly researched, carefully considered data center site selection process can accomplish. No simple, one-size-fits-all solution for the…
How to Rehearse a Data Center Move
How does a rehearsal improve your data center move success? Moving a data center is a huge undertaking. Having a plan to support the move and limit potential business disruptions is critical to a successful…
Checklist for Moving Your Data Center to the Cloud
Is your data center too costly to operate and you need to consider alternatives? In the past, building and moving to a new facility or using colocation services were the options chosen without much thought. The time required…
A Data Center Move Budget is Always a Work in Progress
How often has your manager pushed you for a budget before the full scope of the project is known? When is the project going to be done and how much will it cost? When designing…
A Data Center Move in a Perfect World
In a perfectly executed move, you’d approach it sequentially, and you’d only do each task once with perfection. It might look something like this: 1. Gather the Master Inventory. 2. Gather the Application Inventory. 3.…
Data Center Move Playbook Explained
Previous to my consulting career, I spent over a decade with IBM inside many large data centers. The data center remained in a state of constant change. Equipment moved in and out frequently and this…
Is It Time For Fleet Management For Applications?
Consolidating and shuttering many data center sites into a few is a high-level concept that is simple to grasp. Cost savings in the form of lower electricity consumption, fewer facility-based charges, and fewer staff are…
Book Excerpt: Data Center Move Punch List Template
In this Book Excerpt, Author Blaine Berger introduces the powerful punch list as a tool for managing a data center move. What Everybody Ought to Know Before Moving A Data Center In 1999, I had…
Proven Data Center Moving Tips
Do you want a successful data center move? First timers and veterans alike want to succeed with their data center move. I’ve made most of the mistakes I warn you about in my book “What…
The Top 3 Crucial Data Center Move Checklist Elements that Belong in Your Project Plan
I get calls every day from professionals looking for a jump start for their data center move planning. Every project manager knows you should understand the fundamentals that govern the project you’ve been asked to…
Common Pre-Move Tasks
A data center relocation has many pre-move items to be completed. The common tasks you will encounter for most every data center move are: Identify the machines, components, and applications by name Physically label everything…
Guide to Data Center Moving
I’ve made most of the mistakes I warn you about in my book “What Everybody Ought to Know Before Moving a Data Center.” I understand that you have no time to waste. I understand that…
Book Excerpt: Is a Data Center Move Narrative Important?
In this book excerpt from “What Everybody Ought to Know Before Moving a Data Center“ by Blaine Berger, the importance of a Move Narrative is explained. If you have too many items undecided or changing constantly,…
Moving from the Data Center to the Cloud
Cloud migration projects continue to garner interest from organizations seeking a variety of benefits. Executives understand that these complex projects require multi-disciplinary teams to increase the odds of success and realize the promised ROI (return…
The Tyranny of Your Data Center Move Plan
I’ve reviewed many data center relocation plans. Some are simplistic and some are complex, but most suffer from a single and fatal flaw — Everything has to work correctly in the prescribed order. Everything has…
Key Milestones For Migrating a Data Center
You can search the web for someone’s data center move key milestones example or you can do the heavy lifting to discover the critical milestones that matter for your organization. If you’re a project manager,…
Desktop Moving Guide for 2013
We don’t move desktops but think the task should be done with the same rigor as any professional project. We’ve been sharing our Desktop Moving Guide online in an effort to help those confronted with…
Data Center Move Consolidation
Data Center consolidation projects are accelerating and many Information Technology (IT) professionals are faced with their first data center move. A consolidation project is a focused effort to reduce costs and this singular goal can…
Survival Guide For Your First Data Center Relocation
Attention Spiceworks Members – Checklist now available on Kindle! Special Offer: You can take a free crash course to learn how to write your relocation RFP. Most project managers tasked with their first data center…
Data Center Move Checklist Primer
Exclusive Bonus: Want the checklist free? Answer these 3 questions. Learn to write an RFP with our free crash course. Most project managers tasked with their first data center relocation begin a search for a…
CIO Alert: Key Data Center Improvements
Even with all the information about proper hot and cold aisles, dueling CRAC (Computer Room Air Conditioners) units, and improper return air dynamics, IT (Information Technology) teams are still operating inefficient data centers with glaring…
Move your Data Center to the Cloud?
Someday soon, someone is going to challenge you to move your entire data center to the cloud. Enough case studies have emerged to entice CIO’s (Chief Information Officers) to explore the promised cloud economics. After…
Getting Started with Data Center Move Governance
Most Enterprise organizations have some form of IT Governance in place. However, these structures are often inadequate for a data center relocation. Getting governance right is one of the critical success factors for a well…
Three Tips to Tackle an Urgent Timeline
After budgeting, the most frequent question about a data center move is about the timeline. Every move is different and there is no typical timeline and yet project managers continue to search for the magic…
The Lost Art of a Well-Run Table Top Exercise
A table top exercise can illuminate weak points in a complex plan or test the ability of professionals to respond to scenario-driven events. These exercises should be standard operating procedure in an Enterprise as a…
Avoid Data Center Relocation Post-Move Mistakes
Is it surprising that a data center relocation can uncover organizational issues in addition to the technical challenges encountered? Yet, many are unprepared for this painful reality. From a budget perspective, post-move tasks are rarely…