Decision Support Tools for Cloud Migration in the Enterprise

TL;DR

This paper introduces two decision support tools for enterprise cloud migration, including a cost modeling tool and a risk-benefit spreadsheet, evaluated through case studies to aid IT decision makers.

Contribution

It presents novel tools that assist enterprises in cost estimation and risk assessment for cloud migration, filling a gap in decision support methods.

Findings

Tools effectively inform about costs, benefits, and risks.

Case studies demonstrate practical utility.

Supports better decision making in cloud migration.

Abstract

This paper describes two tools that aim to support decision making during the migration of IT systems to the cloud. The first is a modeling tool that produces cost estimates of using public IaaS clouds. The tool enables IT architects to model their applications, data and infrastructure requirements in addition to their computational resource usage patterns. The tool can be used to compare the cost of different cloud providers, deployment options and usage scenarios. The second tool is a spreadsheet that outlines the benefits and risks of using IaaS clouds from an enterprise perspective; this tool provides a starting point for risk assessment. Two case studies were used to evaluate the tools. The tools were useful as they informed decision makers about the costs, benefits and risks of using the cloud.