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 progress towards a realistic cost model.
What are the Elements of a Successful Cost Model?
Tip: Don’t make a budget all about numbers. Narratives inform the interpretation of numbers.
- A documented move narrative with specific categories.
- A list of your assumptions in narrative form.
- Budget categories coupled with the uncertainty meter. For example, create a column labeled “Uncertainty” using a scale of 1=certain, 2=mostly certain, and 3=uncertain. Uncertainty ranking calibrates the numbers. (Grab my example cost model to understand the Uncertainty Meter).
- A plan for assessing gaps in your analysis such as a peer review or outside assessment.
These elements form the basis of your cost model. They are a beginning, not the finished model.
In my example, I place uncertainty ranking against nine major cost model categories that match the migration phases. Your categories and sub-tasks will vary and be specific for your migration. You may even choose to organize your budget according to services, equipment, software, and financing cost categories.
Where uncertainty is high, more refinement is required before the cost model can be used to inform decisions. Guessing at costs is unavoidable, so rank the guess with your uncertainty meter.
Reach out if you need help building or reviewing your cost model for a data center migration.
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Data Center Migration Cost Model