As the services we procure become more and more standardized and their providers offer an ever growing list of functionality how do we manage the services that these providers deliver. We also have to decide which services per provider we use and under what conditions we use them and how do we present these services to our users. 

Large organizations are likely to have multiple large cloud vendors with overlapping portfolios but differing service details. There are very few organizations large enough to dictate terms to large cloud providers, that makes understanding these terms for every provider we engage truly important. To just name a handful of subjects to think of:  

• Contract Details 
• Data Processing Agreement 
• Service Level Agreement 
• Existing Pricing plans and volume agreements 
• Security baselining 

The main takeaway for our governance is alignment between business and IT and ensuring we make deliberate decisions when commissioning cloud services. It is not always possible to block parts of a providers portfolio or otherwise prevent service commissioning. Communication therefore is key. Avoid becoming the “Department of No”. Inform your customers well and let them make the decisions.

The CCoE supports the Portfolio Manager with making choices. We want to prevent doubling up on services or purchasing services without a proper landing zone in place.