Digital Solutions Cloud Strategy Update
At HCL, we take our customers’ needs and concerns very seriously. Since July, when we made the End of Service announcement of Connections Cloud, we have worked closely with customers and partners around the world to understand their needs, and how HCL can best position them for success now and in the future. We have heard that customers want choice, security, innovation, and continuity for their business. What follows is an update on our progress and some expectations as we move forward.
Cloud destinations
Customers have shared with us the desire to keep their data local to them, whether to meet industry security policies or local data residency requirements. To address this desire, HCL has a core set of geo-based partners that we believe are well-poised to deliver cloud services to our customers. This allows HCL to focus on world-class software development and increasing the velocity at which we bring a new capability to market, while the local business partners you know and trust in your local markets deliver the cloud hosting options you need.
In the next month, HCL will announce a set of Managed Service Providers (MSP) called HCL Cloud Hosting Partners. These organizations have been working with us hand-in-hand to build:
- Private cloud services for Mail, Applications, Connections, and Sametime, and
- A multi-tenant public cloud offering for Connections, Engagement Center, and Sametime Chat
For clients of Domino Apps on Cloud, we are working on a similar private-cloud HCL offering for launch later this year using the latest Domino V11 release and containerization best practices. More information will be provided on the PaaS vendors supported, pricing and the steps to migrate.
Returning to on-premises delivery
At HCL, we want to provide you with the options that work best for you. As an alternative to the cloud offerings stated above, SCN, Verse, and Connections clients may revert to any appropriate earlier non-expiring licensing for on-premises or private cloud, by renewing Subscription & Support without penalty, if their subscription has remained current. Here is a recent blog on the topic.
Please contact your Business Partner or HCL sales representative if you have questions or would like more information on altering your existing license agreement accordingly.
Data migration
We are currently in the process of exploring multiple options for data migration so that cloud customers can right-size the approach that best suits their data size and destination. Naturally, the technical solution for Mail versus Connections will differ, but our common goal is to help ensure your data migration goes as smoothly as possible for all the products you are using. For details about the data migration process itself, please see the FAQ below.
Our intention is to provide a streamlined process by which customers can request offboarding from the existing Connections Cloud instance to the new HCL Managed Service Provider (MSP) of their choice. At a high level, the process will flow like this:
Customer will contact SaaSHCL@us.ibm.com and inform them of the vendor they’ve selected, specifying the offerings included in this shift:
E.g. Selected Vendor = Partner A, to host Mail on Private Cloud, Sametime Chat, and Connections on public cloud
- Customer or partner completes the setup of Domino replication to export mail content. HCL will coordinate with the offboarding coordinator and MSPs on Connections content extraction
- MSP will complete the process of validating the data shift has occurred as planned
- The customer continues to work leveraging new architecture
I realize our customers want much more information. We wanted to share the approach we’re working to take from concept to execution now, and plan to continue to share more details in the coming weeks.
On October 30, at 10 AM EDT, we hosted a webcast where we introduced our cloud hosting partners and more details about the data migration process. Please register here to watch this webcast. In the meantime, feel free to access our updated FAQ document below or via the HCL support portal for further details on questions you may have.
At HCL, we value your partnership, and we will continue to provide regular communications into our direction and progress. If you have any more questions, please reach out to your HCL sales representative. I look forward to sharing more with you next month.
