CIOs take command in the Cloud

Posted by Richard Thomas on 21/09/2011

When talking to CIOs, our team is often faced with the question of what is the best way to manage Cloud Service Providers and service level delivery.

The first priority when agreeing a contract with a Cloud Service Provider is for the CIO to insist that they receive clear and understandable reports on the service levels delivered.

Tools, like Highlight, are being used by Tier 1 Service Providers (and directly by Enterprises) to deliver information at business level, so managers don't have to wade through reams of technical data.

Most importantly, a tool like Highlight allows the CIO to customise reports to individual needs within their organisation.

For example, the engineering team monitoring the nuts and bolts of the network; the project team that built the connectivity and monitor the end-to-end performance; through the executive and management functions who want to know that the technology is delivering required business outcomes. All these people require their own view of the same data.

With this level of reporting, the CIO is equipped with the knowledge to judge first-hand if cloud service levels are being met and adapt the monitoring to different services depending on business reuqirements.

This is how CIOs can take command in their supplier relationships.