IT Managers
Michelle
IT Manager
Michelle has successfully run many IT teams throughout her career. When her current 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, to get 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. Michelle has lead her organisation in recognising the opportunity for success rather than having to change strategic direction yet again.
Before Buttonwood
How can I maintain data sovereignty?
Michelle knows that her organisation’s production system contains sensitive customer information. A policy of data sovereignty was put in place to alleviate data security concerns and reduce risk. How can she use cloud services but maintain protection over specific data and workloads?
With Buttonwood
Policy based protection
Michelle is able to set governance policies within Buttonwood to decide which type of workloads are permitted to be located on private versus public cloud environments. Any workloads in the public cloud must be carried out using datacentres within Australia, and any new workloads with the same requirements will also be protected.
Learn More About AutomationHow 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 keep continuity with current 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 its partners means Michelle has the tools needed to implement and guide business transformation.
Learn More About AutomationHow do I maintain security and compliance?
The development teams are demanding greater autonomy, and Michelle doesn’t have a way to control and govern their IaaS access. How can Michelle successfully run teams of developers at numerous locations while maintaining policy and governance requirements?
Multi-level policies
With global 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 and can even specify hours of operation resulting in reduced costs.
Learn More About AutomationHow 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 allocated to cost centres. 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 AutomationHow can I see where cloud spend is going?
The business teams are often complaining about the cost of IT. How can Michelle track costs to show the business teams how they are using IT services and highlight 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 users. Each line of business can understand how much they are spending, on what, and look for ways to decrease costs.
Learn More About Cost ManagementHow 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 within Buttonwood. This ensures that there are no surprise costs from the business purchasing unexpected licenses. Michelle can see all budgets and receive alerts at specific spending milestones.
Learn More About Financial GovernanceHow can I manage shadow IT?
Working within a large organisation, Michelle regularly finds out after the fact about new apps that her business teams have purchased licenses for, circumventing the IT team in the process. 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 needed by the organisation, the business team submits a request through the Cloud Workspace, ensuring that Michelle is aware and can implement compliance policies before the app is put to use.
Learn More About Financial GovernanceHow can I ensure that each license we pay for is utilised?
With new staff members joining the organisation daily and others leaving, there is 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 can easily add new users, allocate licenses to them and deprovision users when required, all through Buttonwood. No longer are licenses dormant if users don't need access. Instead, the IT team receives notification and can move the license to a user that needs it.
Learn More About Financial GovernanceHow 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 now use Buttonwood to apply when they want access to a new app. If that app has competing functions to 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 Financial GovernanceBefore 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 change her mind if the service offering changes, or her requirements are modified? How can she ensure she isn’t locked in 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 of the cloud services at the time of deployment.
Learn More About AutomationHow 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 enables Michelle’s team to choose where each workload is deployed. Setting policies to make decisions 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 AutomationHow 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 than they could be, 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 its requirements?
Data collated and compared for you
Buttonwood Cloud Broker is vendor agnostic to show Michelle’s team the cloud services that match each of her organisation’s workload’s requirements, and their associated costs or “bids”. With the ability to sort and review all options, and immediate access to relevant information, her team can now make the best decision in seconds, rather than spending hours in research and complex analysis.
Learn More About Cost ManagementThere 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 implement governance over her current SaaS apps or must she just start from scratch with new apps?
BYO SaaS applications
Michelle has brought her organisation's many SaaS apps into Buttonwood Cloud Workspace. She has choice over any apps that her organisation currently uses or wants to use in the future within the Cloud Workspacerather than having to be locked in to specific vendors.
Learn More About Financial GovernanceBefore Buttonwood
How do I meet all business SLAs across both private and public IaaS?
Michelle has many stakeholders and numerous service level agreements (SLAs) to manage. She is responsible for ensuring that the IT team is compliant. How can she monitor and govern disparate and varied requirements?
With Buttonwood
Multi-level policies
Buttonwood Cloud Broker enables Michelle to establish all of her organisation’s SLAs through various levels of policies. These policies can be updated if requirements change, and otherwise continue to govern cloud deployments without any manual maintenance from Michelle.
Learn More About AutomationHow 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 services consumption, including when they were made and by who, through Buttonwood Cloud Broker. The Broker enforces version control policies utilising the Puppet Plugin.
Learn More About AutomationHow 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, and allow them 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 and taking control of cloud services consumption, Michelle has enabled her IT team to use cloud to create new and innovative business processes and applications. The needs of the business teams are serviced more quickly and effectively, freeing up the entire organisation to think differently.
Learn More About AutomationHow do I track charges?
Michelle wants to track her organisation’s infrastructure and application configuration charges so she can figure out how her organisation is using cloud. How can Michelle track this information across numerous cloud providers?
Administration centre
Buttonwood Cloud Broker’s administration centre allows Michelle to see all deployments. She could track all applications, users, cloud accounts virtual networks and virtual clouds in real time.
Learn More About Cost ManagementHow can I reclaim IT budget and allocate SaaS costs to business lines?
Michelle's IT team has a budget to stick to each financial year and costs for SaaS applications used by lines of business are a growing part of the IT spend. How can Michelle remove the costs from her line of business and accurately allocate them to the business teams that use the applications?
SaaS management by cost centre
Using Buttonwood Cloud Workspace, Michelle's team can allocate each SaaS app license to a cost centre within their organisation. Each business team can see their own spend and be responsible for their own SaaS budget rather than it rolling up into the IT budget.
Learn More About Financial GovernanceHow can I quickly and simply manage apps like Office 365?
Various SaaS application licenses need to be provisioned for each new staff member that begins work at Michelle's organisation, 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
Michelle's team can now add, remove and move Office 365 licenses as well as other integrated app licenses within Buttonwood Cloud Workspace. Michelle also has access to her organisation's Salesforce and Service Now licenses through the integration with Buttonwood Cloud Workspace.
Learn More About Financial GovernanceHow 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 scalable and flexible as her organisation continues to change?
Scalability
Buttonwood Cloud Workspace allows 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 Financial Governance