Pay me now or pay me later
January 9, 2012 Leave a comment
The more things change the more they stay the same or so goes the old yarn. Researching life cycle cost again for a paper I’m working on. Found the often referenced but not often credited Iceberg and total cost commitment diagrams. These were based on several studies from the DoD, related components and documented in Design and Manage to Life Cycle Costs, B. Blanchard, 1978. Most of the TCO discussions today are based upon the insights revealed in this book.
The unfortunate fact about this book was that the core message was never addressed by industry; Design Decisions determine overall costs and therefore should require special attention. Today there is much talk about Cloud, reducing costs and converting CAPX (Capital Expenses) to OPEX (Operations Expenses). If not considered carefully, switching from an On-Premise solution to Cloud will cost an Enterprise more and not provide the benefits anticipated.
This is not to say Cloud is not a valuable strategy. Much to the contrary. However, to really take advantage of the elastic nature of Cloud requires planning. Planning on how to optimize the technology, utilize the elasticity it offers and mitigate the risks. Without investing the time and effort it becomes not an opportunity but a pay me now or pay me later situation
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