When an IT vendor talks about “rapid deployment,” what exactly does that mean? “Rapid” can be a slippery word. If you need to rapidly stop your car before running that red light or rear-ending that car in front of you – it can mean fractions of a second. If you’re baking bread, rapid rising yeast may take a couple of hours, while plain jane “slow” yeast takes twice as long. When PCs first started making it onto desktops in the early 80s, the “rapid” ones were processing about 1 MIPS (million instructions per second) – and they seemed miraculously speedy at the time. Today, a really speedy desktop is processing something like 159,000 MIPS. What was rapid in 1980 is unfathomably glacial in 2011.
So when a huge, traditional software integrator starts throwing around the idea of “rapid deployment,” how quickly do they mean to have you up and running? How fast is “rapid?” It’s still not uncommon for a so-called “rapid deployment” project to be planned to run for seven or eight months – and sometimes longer – before going live. At one time, that seemed intensely fast, but maybe that kind of time frame doesn’t really count as rapid anymore. When a Cloud-solution vendor says rapid, they often mean as fast as a couple of weeks in some cases, with average projects taking about eight to ten weeks – not months – and a few taking a bit longer. Magnitudes faster than the other guys’ “rapid.”
But, of course, there are a number of factors that can influence how rapidly – or slowly – any deployment will roll out regardless of the technology. No matter who is involved or what kind of solution is employed, factors such as the scope of the project or how many resources you have available will influence how quickly it can be completed.
But given there are things that effect the speed of any project, there is still a way you can reliably reduce time to implementation by magnitudes compared with old school “no-longer-seems-rapid deployment”. First, you can turn to the Cloud. The number one advantage cited most often by customers buying Cloud-based enterprise solutions is the dramatic increase in speed of deployment.
Even with the absolute speed advantages inherent in deploying Cloud applications, there are also considerations that effect just how quickly and easily a Cloud project proceeds – much of that depending on who you choose as your vendor. For instance, some of the planning you’d do for any major IT project becomes even more important given the compressed timeframe of a Cloud-implementation project.
As with any large technology project, you need to work with your solution provider to identify which members of your team will contribute to the project, and make good estimates of how much time they’ll need to devote.Together, you can identify and account for any possible schedule conflicts. But when you’re compressing a project to a matter of weeks instead of months, you want a partner who can help you accurately gauge the requirements. Failing to anticipate the need properly or to account for a key person going to a conference or being pulled off to help on another critical project can have a magnified effect.
And while it is important that your people are available, you also need to make sure your provider has reasonable expectations. Even allowing for the compressed timeline, your vendor needs to be sure to give your people adequate time to respond to requests.
Another issue, one uniquely acute in Cloud projects, is the risk of your consultants fading out and becoming “ghosts.” On a traditional project, consultants are commonly on-site regularly throughout the project. With some Cloud projects, you may not have anyone on site for much or even most of the project. And, unfortunately, out-of-sight can become out-of-mind.
An experienced Cloud-solution provider will have a communication strategy among key personnel that assures that – even though consultants may not be present – they are still “there,” keeping track of progress and making themselves available to solve emergent issues.
And the enhanced rapidity doesn’t end once the deployment is complete. Even after you’ve enjoyed the incredibly fast deployment of a Cloud solution, you can look forward to speedy and cost-efficient modifications and scaling of the service, and relatively hassle-free updates and maintenance.
