Migrating Critical Applications to the Cloud - JencoMart Case Study
Question
JencoMart is a global retailer with over 10,000 stores in 16 countries.
The stores carry a range of goods, such as groceries, tires, and jewelry.
One of the company's core values is excellent customer service.
In addition, they recently introduced an environmental policy to reduce their carbon output by 50% over the next 5 years.
Company Background - JencoMart started as a general store in 1931, and has grown into one of the world's leading brands, known for great value and customer service.
Over time, the company transitioned from only physical stores to a stores and online hybrid model, with 25% of sales online.
Currently, JencoMart has little presence in Asia, but considers that market key for future growth.
Solution Concept - JencoMart wants to migrate several critical applications to the cloud but has not completed a technical review to determine their suitability for the cloud and the engineering required for migration.
They currently host all of these applications on infrastructure that is at its end of life and is no longer supported.
Existing Technical Environment - JencoMart hosts all of its applications in 4 data centers: 3 in North American and 1 in Europe; most applications are dual-homed.
JencoMart understands the dependencies and resource usage metrics of their on-premises architecture.
Application: Customer loyalty portal LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) application served from the two JencoMart-owned U.S.
data centers.
Database -Oracle Database stores user profiles - 20 TB - Complex table structure - Well maintained, clean data - Strong backup strategyPostgreSQL database stores user credentials - Single-homed in US West - No redundancy - Backed up every 12 hours - 100% uptime service level agreement (SLA) - Authenticates all users Compute -30 machines in US West Coast, each machine has: - Twin, dual core CPUs - 32 GB of RAM - Twin 250 GB HDD (RAID 1)20 machines in US East Coast, each machine has: - Single, dual-core CPU - 24 GB of RAM - Twin 250 GB HDD (RAID 1) Storage -Access to shared 100 TB SAN in each locationTape backup every week Business Requirements -Optimize for capacity during peak periods and value during off-peak periodsGuarantee service availability and supportReduce on-premises footprint and associated financial and environmental impactMove to outsourcing model to avoid large upfront costs associated with infrastructure purchaseExpand services into Asia Technical Requirements -Assess key application for cloud suitabilityModify applications for the cloudMove applications to a new infrastructureLeverage managed services wherever feasibleSunset 20% of capacity in existing data centersDecrease latency in Asia CEO Statement - JencoMart will continue to develop personal relationships with our customers as more people access the web.
The future of our retail business is in the global market and the connection between online and in-store experiences.
As a large, global company, we also have a responsibility to the environment through green initiatives and policies.
CTO Statement - The challenges of operating data centers prevent focus on key technologies critical to our long-term success.
Migrating our data services to a public cloud infrastructure will allow us to focus on big data and machine learning to improve our service to customers.
CFO Statement - Which metrics should you track?
Answers
Explanations
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D. E.D.
From scenario: Business Requirements include: Expand services into Asia Technical Requirements include: Decrease latency in Asia.
The CFO is asking which metrics to track when migrating critical applications to the cloud for JencoMart, a global retailer with over 10,000 stores in 16 countries. To answer this question, we need to consider the company's business and technical requirements and the CEO and CTO statements.
JencoMart's business requirements include optimizing for capacity during peak periods and value during off-peak periods, guaranteeing service availability and support, reducing the on-premises footprint and associated financial and environmental impact, moving to an outsourcing model to avoid large upfront costs associated with infrastructure purchase, and expanding services into Asia.
JencoMart's technical requirements include assessing key applications for cloud suitability, modifying applications for the cloud, moving applications to a new infrastructure, leveraging managed services wherever feasible, sunsetting 20% of capacity in existing data centers, and decreasing latency in Asia.
The CEO statement emphasizes JencoMart's commitment to developing personal relationships with customers as more people access the web, and the connection between online and in-store experiences. Additionally, JencoMart has introduced an environmental policy to reduce their carbon output by 50% over the next 5 years.
The CTO statement emphasizes the challenges of operating data centers and the need to migrate data services to a public cloud infrastructure to focus on big data and machine learning to improve service to customers.
Given these requirements and statements, the most relevant metrics to track when migrating critical applications to the cloud are likely to be those related to service availability, latency, and user experience, particularly in Asia, where JencoMart considers the market key for future growth.
Option A, tracking error rates for requests from Asia, could be relevant in determining whether the migrated applications are functioning properly in the new cloud infrastructure. However, it may not provide a complete picture of user experience or service availability.
Option B, tracking latency differences between the US and Asia, is likely to be more relevant in ensuring that JencoMart can deliver the same level of service to customers in Asia as in the US. This metric would help JencoMart identify any performance issues and take corrective action.
Option C, tracking total visits, error rates, and latency from Asia, provides a more complete picture of user experience and service availability than option A. However, it may not be necessary to track all three metrics if they are highly correlated.
Option D, tracking total visits and average latency for users from Asia, is a good compromise between tracking too many metrics and not tracking enough. This metric would help JencoMart identify any issues with user experience or service availability and take corrective action.
Option E, tracking the number of character sets present in the database, is unlikely to be relevant to the migration of critical applications to the cloud, as it does not directly relate to service availability or user experience.
In summary, the most relevant metrics to track when migrating critical applications to the cloud for JencoMart are likely to be those related to service availability, latency, and user experience, particularly in Asia. Option D, tracking total visits and average latency for users from Asia, is the most appropriate choice among the given options.
