Before you partner with a managed SAP cloud provider, define your return on investment (ROI) so that you have metrics that you can measure later.
What’s the ROI?
Moving your workloads to the cloud and engaging a managed cloud partner can help you achieve several benefits, such as increased agility and innovation. There is one main question you should ask yourself.
How do you measure your cloud initiatives to ensure that they are adding value to your enterprise?
Before you partner with a managed cloud provider, define your return on investment (ROI) so that you have metrics that you can measure later.
Not sure what to track?
More than half of IBM’s respondents use financial metrics to measure their cloud success. According to a study by IBM, 74 percent of business leaders “consistently and objectively compare their achieved ROI with the original, expected ROI for their enterprise cloud initiatives.”
5 Cloud Metrics to Track
Their top five key performance indicators (KPIs) include the following:
- Increase in revenue margin
- Rate of change in reduction of total cost of ownership
- Increase in provisioning speed
- Speed of multi-sourcing
- Quality of perceived user experience
If you’re working with a managed hosting partner for SAP, you should also track how they are helping you achieve your goals.
Managed SAP Cloud Providers: 5 Ways to Determine the Value
Here are five ways to determine if your managed cloud provider is driving value for your enterprise:
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Show the benefits
Refer to the goals that you set before you chose a managed cloud partner. Have you achieved any of them? If not, are you well on your way towards achieving ROI?
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Your costs
Review your previous internal costs against what you pay for managed cloud services. How much did you pay for the cloud before you moved to an SAP managed services model? How much are you paying now? How do the benefits of working with a managed cloud provider, such as decreased burden on your internal team and increased agility, compare against your expenses?
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Your soft benefits
In addition to financial benefits, such as increased revenue and lower costs, the cloud can bring you several soft benefits. For example, it can help you take products to market faster. Cloud services can also make your employees happier and more efficient with quicker access and less friction to apps. How is your managed cloud provider helping you see benefits in these and other areas?
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Your service level agreements (SLAs)
Is your managed cloud provider meeting your SLAs? For example, are your apps as available as your contract states? Are they meeting your security SLAs?
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Their responsiveness
How quickly does your managed cloud provider respond to any issues? How many tickets have you opened? How quickly were they resolved? Your provider should track this information for you and provide regular reports on how they are performing.
Track the Weekly Performance
Choose a managed cloud provider who tracks your happiness on a weekly basis and continually looks for ways to improve. If you are unhappy with a service, your managed cloud provider should immediately address any issues to ensure that you are getting the most value.
Learn More About How Measure Your SAP Cloud Success
Before you choose a managed cloud partner for SAP, get clear on your goals, what you want to outsource, and how you want to measure success.
You can learn more about SAP managed cloud in our ultimate guide to managed SAP cloud.