SLAs

PICSE Wizard (http://wiz.picse.eu): Cloud service procurement made easy!
Are you a Procurement official, IT manager or procurement initiator? Then, complete the PICSE wizard easy-to-use services to help you make informed decisions about how to procure cloud services. The PICSE Wizard is a web-based application that public research organisations can use to obtain guidelines on the most suitable model for procuring cloud services, to make a self-assessment and evaluate their procurement procedures. Each checklist comes with a set of recommendations & tips.

Digital transformation is absolutely crucial to any organisation whether public or private. It is at the very core of the digital single market to ensure Europe reaps the socio-economic benefits of new technologies. Cloud computing has the potential to reduce IT expenditure and boost organisational agility while at the same time improving the scope for delivering flexible high-quality new services.
This document describes the experience of ten public sector organisations across Europe who have either carried out a process to procure cloud services, or are considering doing so. The experiences vary in terms of success and offer insights into how the procurement of cloud services is impacting on their current processes. Read more...

Interesting article by James Mitchell, CEO at Strategic Blue, financial cloud broker & PICSE Task Force member. The article focuses on how cloud computing is affecting the IT sales channel, and how the way that a cloud service provider structures its distribution and reseller contracts profoundly affects the behaviour of the channel...with knock-on effects on whether the cloud buyer is better off going direct, or continuing to work with the IT resellers who make a business out of understanding the IT needs of their customers.

1) What is a cloud computing SLA?
2) What should I look for before I agree to a cloud SLA?
3) How much downtime is too much?
4) What if my provider isn't meeting the SLA expectations? And how do I know?
5) What about compliance? What regulations do I need to meet?