Cloud and data centre
Connect, protect and manage the workloads your business depends on
Build a practical cloud and data-centre model around your workloads, security, resilience, connectivity, recovery, cost and who runs it day to day.
Five customer decisions
- Workloads and dependencies
- How users and sites connect
- Backup and recovery needs
- Who operates it afterwards
Cloud operating model
Five decisions, one question at a time
Each part of the model answers a question your organisation needs to settle. Start with the decision in front of you. Not every organisation needs all five.
Assess
What should stay on premises and what should move?
Connect
How will users and sites reach workloads reliably?
Migrate
How will the change be controlled?
Protect
How will data and operations recover?
Manage
Who monitors and optimises the environment?
Assess
Assess before moving
Understand workloads, data, dependencies, identity, performance, security, licensing, sovereignty, operations and cost. Then decide what should remain, modernise, move, replace or retire.
Cloud is a decision about how you operate. It does not automatically reduce cost.
What we assess
- Workloads
- Data
- Dependencies
- Identity
- Performance
- Security
- Licensing
- Sovereignty
- Operations
- Cost
The decision for each workload
- Remain where it is
- Modernise
- Move
- Replace
- Retire
Connect
Connect workloads and users
Compare internet, private or managed connectivity, cloud on-ramps where authorised, data-centre interconnects, remote access and redundancy.
Then design name resolution, routing, security inspection and failover across the end-to-end path, not just the link to the cloud.
Options we compare
Each option has a different cost, reach and resilience profile.
- Internet
- Private or managed connectivity
- Cloud on-ramps, where authorised
- Data-centre interconnects
- Remote access
- Redundancy
Designed across the end-to-end path
- Name resolution
- Routing
- Security inspection
- Failover
Migrate
Migrate with control
Discovery, preparation, waves, testing, rollback and acceptance, in a controlled sequence.
- 01
Discover
Discovery and dependency mapping for the workloads in scope.
- 02
Prepare and pilot
Landing-zone or target preparation, then a pilot.
- 03
Move in waves
Migration waves with testing and a rollback for each.
- 04
Accept and decommission
Acceptance against agreed checks, then decommissioning of what is replaced.
We account for data transfer time, identity, permissions, integrations, user communication and operational readiness in every plan.
Protect
Protect and recover
Define backup scope, frequency, retention, immutability where available, encryption, access, recovery point objective, recovery time objective and testing.
Disaster recovery covers people, procedures, dependencies and a recovery sequence you can actually run, not just replicated data.
Each measure is stated separately for your environment. One does not imply another.
Recovery point objective
How much recent data the business can afford to lose, set for each system.
Recovery time objective
How long a system can be unavailable before it must be recovered.
Retention and immutability
How long copies are kept, and whether they can be altered, where immutability is available.
Recovery testing
Representative scenarios tested, results recorded and gaps remediated.
Manage
Manage security, cost and change
Agree who is responsible for monitoring, incidents, patching, configuration, access, vulnerabilities, backup, capacity, cost allocation, licensing and change. The service description identifies exactly which layers are managed and by whom.
- Operations
Monitoring, incidents, patching and configuration.
- Security and access
Access, vulnerabilities and backup.
- Capacity and change
Capacity planning and controlled change.
- Cost and licensing
Cost allocation and licensing. Tagging, budgets and reporting help find waste without cutting what operations need.
Data-centre options
Hosting and colocation, where available
Where available, services may include colocation, rack or space, power, cross-connects, internet, private connectivity, remote hands and managed infrastructure.
Availability, site standards and operating scope must be confirmed for the selected facility and service.
- Colocation
- Rack or space
- Power
- Cross-connects
- Internet
- Private connectivity
- Remote hands
- Managed infrastructure
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about public cloud, security, connectivity and recovery.
Should every workload move to public cloud?
No. Whether a workload suits public cloud depends on architecture, performance, data, security, licensing, cost, skills and lifecycle. A hybrid approach, or keeping it where it is, may be a better fit.
Is private cloud more secure than public cloud?
Not necessarily. Security depends on design, configuration, identity, monitoring, operations and shared responsibilities. The deployment model alone does not determine it.
What is cloud connectivity?
It is the network path users, sites and systems use to reach cloud workloads. Options can include internet, private or managed connectivity and authorised on-ramp services, each with different cost, reach and resilience.
How do we know disaster recovery will work?
Document dependencies and the recovery sequence, and keep data and configuration protected. Test representative scenarios, record results and fix gaps.
Can you manage more than one cloud?
Potentially, where the platforms, tools, authorisations and agreed scope support it. The service description must identify exactly which layers and responsibilities are managed.
Related services
Cloud depends on the path and the people running it
Workloads are only as available as the connectivity that reaches them, the network that carries them and the service model behind them.
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Enterprise Connectivity
Enterprise fibre, NBN pathways, business broadband, fixed wireless, mobile, satellite, private networks and cloud connectivity, subject to location and catalogue.
Explore -
Managed Networks and SD-WAN
SD-WAN, routing, monitoring, security integration, performance visibility and controlled change.
Explore -
Service Management
Onboarding, incidents, changes, reporting, renewals, supplier coordination and transition.
Explore
Running a smaller organisation? Cloud Backup and Microsoft 365 for Small Business
Cloud and data-centre assessment
Build the right operating model
Share your current environment, key workloads, pain points, compliance requirements, target outcomes and internal capability. We’ll define the discovery needed and a suitable next step.
Helpful to have ready
- Your objective: assess, migrate, connect, backup, disaster recovery, host or colocate, manage or optimise cost
- Your environment: on premises, data centre, public cloud, SaaS, hybrid or multi-cloud
- Critical applications, data volumes and main dependencies
- Identity, data location, regulatory or security requirements
- Current RPO, RTO and last recovery test, if known
- Internal, co-managed or managed-service preference
Do not include credentials, IP addressing or detailed architecture.
Already a customer?
Use the contact path in your service schedule for eligible priority incidents.