IT Managers
Michelle
IT Manager
Michelle has run many IT teams successfully throughout her career. When her organisation’s board announced their drive towards a cloud first strategy, Michelle had concerns about compliance, management and the risks involved in this transformation. However, she also saw the business benefits in moving to cloud. After liaising with the executive team, she has redirected the business strategy towards a hybrid cloud model, getting the best of both private and public clouds.
Searching for cloud management systems to help support the new direction for her organisation, Michelle wanted the processes, policies and software to assist in this important transformation. This critical stage meant the difference between success and changing strategic direction yet again.
Before Buttonwood
How can I maintain data sovereignty?
Michelle knows that her organisation’s production system contains sensitive customer information. Data sovereignty is a major concern to reduce risk. How can she use cloud but maintain protection over specific workloads?
With Buttonwood
Policy based protection
Michelle is able to set governance policies to decide which type of workloads can be located on private versus public cloud environments. Data sovereignty is ensured and any new workloads with the same requirements are also protected.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow can I adapt my team to work in cloud?
The existing IT support frameworks built by Michelle were developed to manage on premise solutions. How does Michelle now adapt for cloud and introduce completely new processes and systems?
Self-service portal and support
Buttonwood allows Michelle’s team to access cloud deployments through a simple to use portal. Support from Buttonwood and partners means Michelle has the tools needed to guide business transformation.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow do I maintain security and compliance?
While the development teams are demanding greater autonomy, Michelle doesn’t have a way to control and govern their IaaS access. How can Michelle have a large resource base at numerous locations and maintain policy and governance requirements?
Muti-level policies
With global policies and environmental policies, Buttonwood took the worry from Michelle by enforcing compliance before any developers could deploy in cloud. She has governance over where and when her cloud services are deployed as well as hours of operation to reduce costs.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow can I see where cloud spend is going?
The business teams are often complaining at the cost of IT internally. How can Michelle track costs to show the business teams how they are using IT services and their return on investment?
Cost centre tracking
Buttonwood tracks all cloud consumption against predetermined cost centres. Michelle can now reconcile budgets against services, workloads or the consumer. Each business line can understand how much they are spending on what to work to decrease costs.
Learn More About Cloud AnalyticsHow do I avoid IaaS bill shock?
Michelle has a fear that cloud expenses will expand without warning, eating into her already stressed IT budget. How can Michelle ensure that her cloud budget is under control?
IaaS financial transparency
Michelle can feel safe knowing that cloud budgets are set and each allocated to a cost centre. Establishing these budgets means there is no longer a risk of bill shock with a clear vision and forecast of all cloud spend.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow do I control increasing SaaS costs?
Michelle also fears that her organisation's SaaS application monthly and annual costs are going to surprise her team. How can Michelle ensure that her SaaS application budget is under control?
SaaS financial transparency
Michelle can set budgets for her organisation's SaaS application consumption. This ensures that there are no surprise costs from the business purchasing unexpected licenses. Michelle can see all budgets and be alerted at specific spending milestones.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeHow can I manage shadow IT?
In a large organisation, every week Michelle finds out about new apps that her business teams have purchased licenses for. How can Michelle get control of all of the apps that are already in use as well as any future apps that will be needed?
Operational consistancy
Michelle can manage all of her organisation's SaaS applications through Buttonwood. When a new application is added to the organisation, it is requested by the business team through the Cloud Exchange ensuring that Michelle is aware and has implemented compliance policies onto the app before it is in use.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeHow can I rein in all of our organisation's data that is sitting in SaaS apps?
SaaS applications hold data about Michelle's organisation that may be critical or that might need to be protected. With so many SaaS apps that Michelle doesn't even know about, how can her team be expected to protect all of that data?
Policy control
Michelle can ensure that all SaaS applications in use by the organisation are compliant with the policies set by the IT team.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeHow can I ensure that each license we pay for is utilised?
With new staff members joining the organisation daily and others leaving, there are always movement in the licenses of SaaS applications. How can Michelle's team make sure that each staff member has access to the licenses they need and aren't allocated licenses they won't be using?
Identity and user management
Michelle's team easily adds new users, allocates licenses to them and can deprovision users when required through Buttonwood. No longer are licenses dormant if users don't need access. Instead, after being notified through reporting, the IT team can move the license to a user that needs it.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeHow can I reduce the duplication in SaaS apps across business teams?
The business teams within Michelle's organisation don't necessarily talk to each other about their SaaS app usage. This means that some teams are using different applications to do the same job. How can Michelle reduce the investment in licenses, training and data control by reducing the amount of apps used?
Governance of accepted apps
Business teams use Buttonwood to apply when they want access to a new app. If that app has competing functions as another, already established application, Michelle's team can work with the business teams to find the best solution rather than creating more and more new licenses across platforms.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeBefore Buttonwood
How do I aviod IaaS vendor lock in?
Michelle does her due diligence with all providers she engages. However what if she wants to continue to change as services and her requirements are modified? How can she ensure she isn’t locked with the wrong provider?
With Buttonwood
Multi-cloud workloads
Buttonwood Cloud Broker allows Michelle’s team to have workloads within various cloud provider environments. Each workload’s environment is chosen based on its requirements and the cost at the time of deployment.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow do I offer IaaS cloud services that meet the entire business's needs?
Michelle needs to satisfy the needs of the application, operation and business teams to gain consistency and to reduce shadow IT. How can she offer flexibility to such a wide audience?
Hybrid cloud
Integrating with her on premise environment, Buttonwood Cloud Broker enabled Michelle’s team to choose where each workload was deployed too. Setting policies to make the decision easier for the business teams, Michelle successfully runs a future proofed hybrid cloud IT Infrastructure through an easy to use self-service portal.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow do I keep up with all IaaS cloud service providers?
IaaS providers offer thousands of cloud instances across hundreds of regions all at different price points. Enterprises are paying on average greater than 25% more for cloud resources due to this complexity. How can Michelle know which provider is right for her organisation? And does this decision change depending on the workload and it’s requirements?
Data collated and compared for you
Buttonwood Cloud Broker is vendor agnostic to show Michelle’s team the bids that conform with each workload’s requirements. With the ability to sort and review all options, her team now has access to relevant information to make the best decision in seconds, rather than spending hours in research and complex analysis on ever changing data.
Learn More About Cloud AnalyticsThere are many SaaS applications that my organisation already uses. How can I start to manage those retrospectively?
Michelle is concerned that her team is too late to begin to manage all the SaaS apps that are already in use across her organisation. Can she now govern her current SaaS apps rather than starting from scratch with new apps?
BYO SaaS applications
Michelle has brought her organisation's many SaaS apps to Buttonwood Cloud Exchange. She has choice over any apps that her organisation currently uses or wants to use in the future within the Cloud Exchange rather than having to be locked in to specific vendors.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeBefore Buttonwood
How do I meet all business SLAs across both private and public IaaS?
Michelle has many stakeholders to manage. With numerous service level agreements (SLAs) she is responsible for, she must ensure that the IT team is compliant. How can she monitor and govern these requirements?
With Buttonwood
Multi-level policies
Buttonwood Cloud Broker enabled Michelle to establish all of her organisation’s SLAs through various levels of policies. These policies could now be updated when requirement and continue to govern cloud deployments without any manual maintenance from Michelle.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow can I have the same control over IaaS in public cloud as I do in private cloud?
Michelle is concerned that she doesn’t have skills in her team or the budget to retrain staff in multi-cloud. How can she have choice to use public or private cloud if she doesn’t have the resources needed?
Operational consistency
Buttonwood Cloud Broker has enabled Michelle’s team to have complete operational consistency across both public and private cloud. This is achieved through the self-service consumption model, performance management and incident management.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow do I automate IaaS for my Dev-Ops team?
Michelle has numerous Dev-ops teams and has had issues in the past with system and software changes. How can Michelle have version control in an ever changing environment?
Visibility, auditability and accountability
Michelle has clear vision of all changes in cloud, by whom and when they were made through Buttonwood Cloud Broker. Utilising the Puppet Plugin, the Broker enforces version control policies.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow can my development team have the agility to deploy environments when the need them?
Michelle’s team is constantly working to keep up with the development team’s requirements, to deploy environments as quickly as possible. How can her team keep up with the pace of the business?
Empowering innovation
By embracing constant change, Michelle’s team have used cloud to create new and innovative business processes and applications. By servicing the business teams quicker and more effectively, the entire organisation can think differently.
Learn More About Cloud BrokerHow do I track charges?
Tracking her organisation’s infrastructure and application configuration charges is important for Michelle to gain insights onto how her organisation is using cloud. How can Michelle track this information across numerous cloud providers?
Administration centre
Buttonwood Cloud Broker’s administration centre allowed Michelle to see all deployments. She could track all applications, users, cloud accounts virtual networks and virtual clouds in real time.
Learn More About Cloud AnalyticsHow can I reclaim IT budget and allocate SaaS costs to business lines?
Michelle's team has a budget to stick to each financial year and SaaS costs are becoming a large part of the spend. How can Michelle remove the costs from her business line and allocate it to the business teams within the organisation that use the applications?
SaaS management by cost centre
Due to Buttonwood Cloud Exchange, Michelle's team could allocate each SaaS app license to a cost centre within their organisation. Each business team then can see their spend and be responsible for their own SaaS budget rather than having to be managed by IT.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeHow can I quickly and simply manage apps like Office 365?
When a new staff member begins work at Michelle's organisation, various SaaS application licenses need to be provisioned for them including Office 365 licenses in Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint etc. Michelle's team must log into each of the SaaS providers and organise their licenses, dealing with the different interfaces and processes. How can Michelle reduce the administration time required?
Integrated applications
Within Buttonwood Cloud Exchange, Michelle's team could add, remove and move Office 365 licenses as well as other integrated app licenses. Michelle also has accessed her organisation's Salesforce and Service Now licenses through the integration with Buttonwood Cloud Exchange.
Learn More About Cloud ExchangeHow can I control SaaS as the organisation continues to grow?
Michelle's organisation has expanded quickly and her IT team must plan for continued growth. How can Michelle ensure that the solution she is putting in place to manage SaaS applications is scaleable and flexible as her organisation continues to change?
Scalability
Buttonwood Cloud Exchange allowed the business teams within Michelle's organisation to access all of their SaaS apps, even as the numbers continued to grow. Michelle's IT team can also relax knowing that no matter how many staff members are added to the organisation, they have full control over the SaaS management, reporting on the changes, costs and usage.
Learn More About Cloud Exchange