Cloud Readiness Assessment & FinOps Strategy

The Problem: You’re in the “Cloud Wasteland”

62% of enterprises are stuck in what we call the Cloud Wasteland—you’ve migrated to AWS/Azure, but you’re running lifted-and-shifted VMs and paying 3x more than on-prem for the same architecture.

Why This Happens

1. “Lift and Shift” was sold as the fastest path to value. It’s actually the fastest path to bill shock. You pay cloud prices (opex) for on-prem architecture (designed for capex).

2. Reserved Instances were supposed to solve costs. They lock you into capacity you don’t need 60% of the time. Auto-scaling is supposed to be the point of cloud.

3. Kubernetes was supposed to be “cloud-native.” Running containers on EC2 is “cloud-aware” at best. True cloud-native means serverless, managed services, and pay-per-use.

What This Assessment Delivers

Unlike generic cloud assessments that generate 200-page PowerPoints you’ll never read, we deliver actionable artifacts you can execute on immediately.

Week 1-2: Discovery

We don’t just rely on your CMDB (which is 40% outdated anyway). We use automated discovery tools (AWS Application Discovery Service, Azure Migrate) combined with stakeholder interviews to build the real picture of your environment.

Week 3-5: Deep-Dive Analysis

This is where we find the money. Our FinOps analysts will:

• Scan for idle resources (EBS volumes attached to terminated instances, old snapshots from 2019)
• Identify oversized instances (your t3.2xlarge running at 8% CPU)
• Calculate data transfer waste (misconfigured VPC peering costing $80K/month)
• Find orphaned resources (load balancers with no targets, RDS instances no app connects to)

Typical finding: $500K-3M in annual waste across a 200-app portfolio.

Week 6-8: TCO Modeling & Roadmap

We build a 5-year TCO model that your CFO will actually trust because we include the hidden costs:

• Data egress fees ($0.09/GB adds up to $500K/year for chatty microservices)
• API Gateway tax (costs 5x more than Lambda compute itself)
• Support costs (AWS Enterprise Support = 10% of monthly spend, did you budget for that?)

Week 9: Executive Presentation

We present findings to your steering committee (CTO + CFO + CEO/Board). We’ve done this 200+ times. We know the objections (“what if AWS raises prices?”) and have backup slides ready.

Top Cloud Readiness Assessment & FinOps Strategy Companies

We analyzed 60+ consulting firms. Here are 6 with proven track records in cloud economics and migration planning:

How to Choose a Cloud Readiness Assessment Partner

If you need Big 4 credibility for Board: Deloitte or PwC (CFOs trust these names) If you’re AWS-first: Slalom (deep AWS partnership, practical execution focus) If you need global scale: Accenture (can assess in 50+ countries simultaneously) If you’re tech-forward: ThoughtWorks (cloud-native architecture, serverless expertise) If CFO is driving this: EY (strongest financial modeling and TCO rigor)

Red flags:

• Vendors who recommend cloud for everything (honest assessment = some workloads stay on-prem)
• “Free assessment” offers from cloud providers (AWS/Azure/GCP assessments are sales tools, not neutral)
• Firms that don’t ask about your financial constraints (cloud readiness without TCO modeling is useless)

How We Select Implementation Partners

We analyzed 50+ cloud assessment firms based on:

• Case studies with metrics: Accuracy of TCO models, migration velocity, savings identified
• Technical specializations: TCO modeling accuracy, application dependency mapping
• Pricing transparency: Firms who publish ranges vs. “Contact Us” opacity

Our Commercial Model: We earn matchmaking fees when you hire a partner through Modernization Intel. But we list ALL qualified firms—not just those who pay us. Our incentive is getting you the RIGHT match (repeat business), not ANY match (one-time fee).

Vetting Process:

1. Analyze partner case studies for technical depth
2. Verify client references (when publicly available)
3. Map specializations to buyer use cases
4. Exclude firms with red flags (Big Bang rewrites, no pricing, vaporware claims)

What happens when you request a shortlist?

1. We review your needs: A technical expert reviews your project details.
2. We match you: We select 1-3 partners from our vetted network who fit your stack and budget.
3. Introductions: We make warm introductions. You take it from there.

When to Hire Cloud Readiness Assessment Services

You need external assessment when:

1. Migrated 1-3 years ago, costs higher than expected: Need FinOps waste analysis and optimization roadmap
2. CFO demanding cloud ROI justification: Need TCO model and business case for continued investment
3. 100+ applications, no migration priority: Need application suitability scoring to sequence work
4. Executives asking ‘should we repatriate back on-prem?’: Need honest cost analysis
5. Planning data center exit or lease renewal: Need migration vs renew decision with hard numbers

Don’t hire external help if:

• Haven’t started cloud yet (use ‘Modernization Strategy’ service first for high-level planning)
• Only 10-20 applications (too small for wave planning—just migrate tactically)
• Already have mature FinOps team with tagging/chargeback/optimization processes
• Building greenfield cloud-native apps (no legacy to assess)

You can’t deploy GenAI on over-provisioned VMs. You can’t achieve “elite” DORA metrics without FinOps discipline.

This assessment is the foundation that enables:

• Microservices decomposition (you’ll know which monoliths to break apart first)
• Serverless migration (we’ll identify the 30% of workloads perfect for Lambda)
• Data platform modernization (we’ll show which databases should move to Snowflake/Databricks)

Why This Isn’t Just Another McKinsey Strategy Engagement

1. We give you the spreadsheets. Our TCO model = unlocked Excel file. Tweak assumptions, run scenarios, show your CFO. No black box.

2. We name names. Our app suitability matrix says “CRM app should migrate to cloud; ERP should stay on-prem forever.” Not “further analysis required.”

3. We include executables. Our deliverables include Terraform modules for auto-scaling, Python scripts for tagging enforcement, Cost Explorer dashboards. Implement Week 10.

What Happens After This Engagement

Most clients execute Wave 1 migrations within 30 days of approval. Typical sequence:

1. Month 1: This assessment
2. Month 2: Approve budget, hire migration partner (we’ll recommend 3)
3. Month 3-6: Execute Wave 1 (quick wins = idle resource cleanup + right-sizing)
4. Month 7-18: Execute Wave 2-4 (replatform databases, containerize stateless apps)
5. Month 19-36: Execute Wave 5-8 (refactor to serverless, decompose monoliths)

By Month 12, most clients have:

• Reduced cloud spend by 40-60% from peak waste
• Improved deployment velocity 3-5x (infrastructure provisioning: 3 days → 30 minutes)
• Achieved CFO confidence to approve cloud expansion (not repatriation)

Common Questions

Q: What if we’re multi-cloud (AWS + Azure + GCP)?
A: We’re cloud-agnostic. Our team has certifications across all major providers. We’ll optimize your spending across each platform and show where workload placement drove costs up.

Q: Do you recommend where to run workloads (which cloud)?
A: Yes. Based on technical fit + TCO, not vendor sales pitches. Example: We’ll recommend Azure for Windows/.NET apps (better licensing), AWS for ML workloads (SageMaker maturity), GCP for BigQuery analytics.

Q: What if we decide cloud isn’t worth it?
A: Honesty = our differentiator. If our TCO model shows 5-year cloud costs exceed on-prem + you’re not gaining agility benefits, we’ll recommend keeping workloads on-prem or repatriating. We’ve done this 3 times. CFOs love us for it.

Q: Can we execute the roadmap ourselves (no external partners)?
A: Absolutely. Our deliverables = vendor-neutral. You own everything. Many clients execute internally. Some hire our recommended partners. Some hire us for execution (but engagement = separate, after approval).