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Cloud Proposals

Txture analyzes the AS-IS deployment of applications to generate proposals for their target architecture in the cloud (hereinafter "cloud proposals"). Each cloud proposal shows a variant of a target architecture for the selected application. A proposal shows the cloud products it includes, their various pricing models as well as recommended migration actions.

To generate a cloud proposal, Txture leverages all available information about an application and its deployment stack. The quality of these proposals is directly linked to the accuracy of the input data. To determine whether a sufficient portion of required data has been gathered, have a look at the data collection section.

What kind of cloud proposals are generated?​

To see the various proposals for an application, select the application from the list on the left in the Transformation Cockpit's Target Architecture section and navigate to Available Proposals. Txture groups proposals by Cloud Approaches.

Select a cloud approach to view the proposals generated for the selected application. A maximum of five proposals with the highest score are displayed for each cloud approach. The Target Architecture Preferences influence the scoring of proposals. The Target Architecture Preferences also determine for which target scenarios proposals are displayed. For example, you can define for which cloud providers or geographical locations proposals should be generated.

Note: Proposals are not always generated for all cloud approaches

Txture will attempt to generate proposals for all cloud approaches that are configured. Whether a proposal can be generated depends on the application, its assets, the technologies used, and the products available at the configured cloud providers. For more information on why no proposals could be generated for an approach, please refer to Cloud Proposal Issues.

For example, if an application is developed in-house, Txture might has limited information available, and you won't receive Repurchase proposals as no suitable SaaS product is available.

Cloud proposal views​

The different views of a proposal are explained below:

Overview​

The overview shows a summary of the selected proposal and can be exported via the Menu button. It consists of the following sections:

Summary​

The summary shows the most important key figures and characteristics of the proposal at a glance:

  • Provider this proposal has been generated for.
  • Locations this proposal uses.
  • Cloudification rate, i.e. the percentage of assets that have been replaced by cloud products.
  • Footprint estimate for CO2e emissions and energy consumption.
  • Service Model
  • Landing Zone
  • Migration Strategy
  • Certifications that are contained by the products of this proposal.
  • Cloud Costs
  • Migration Stats (6R decision per assets).

Cloud Products​

The cloud products section shows all products included in the proposal as well as the expected prices per product. A click on a product opens the product details in the Cloud Insider.

Cloud Proposal Score Explanation​

The proposal scores show how well a proposal performs in various categories. In particular, the Target Architecture Preferences are taken into account and how well they are met.

The total proposal score is a weighted average of the displayed categories, depending on the importance that the individual preferences have been given (e.g. how important is the sustainability or the resulting cost according to the Target Architecture Preferences).

Location​

The location section highlights all data centers used for the cloud proposal on a map.

Price & Bill of Materials​

The Price & Bill of Materials tab contains the proposal's pricing information. It shows the various pricing models and the cloud products in a tabular view.

Pricing Models​

The Pricing Models section allows you to compare on-demand and various discounted prices, such as reserved instance pricing. The price model you select in this area is applied to all products for which it is available. Otherwise, the closest matching one is used (e.g. if 3yr reserved pricing is not available, but 1yr reserved pricing is, it is chosen over on-demand pricing). Note that Txture only considers cloud operating expenses.

Bill of Materials​

The Bill of Materials shows

  • the assets belonging to the application,
  • the migration action per asset,
  • the migration target, in other words, the cloud product to which you want to migrate,
  • the dependencies to other assets, and
  • the price per list item in the target architecture.

The price of each list item is determined by the price model set in the Pricing Models section. The pricing is based on 24/7 operations (if runtime is not determined) and default values for storage and backup if none could be read from the deployment stack. Note that those values can be changed manually via the Pricing details button. All products are summed up to give a monthly total.

Txture provides Cloud Rightsizing functionality that is built into the Bill of Materials. Optimized results are displayed for applications when the required rightsizing parameters have been defined and Txture has detected rightsizing potentials. The screenshot below depicts how an optimized result could appear.

Please read the Rightsizing guide for more details.

Editing a proposal can also be done within the Bill of Materials. Using the Add product button, you can add additional cloud assets to the proposal. To change the cloud replacement for individual assets click on the pencil icon next to a migration target asset. After editing a proposal, do not forget to save it.

Solution Workbench​

In this section, we'll explore the Solution Workbench tab, which offers a visual representation of your proposed target architecture. The Solution Workbench allows you to gain insights into the impact of changes on your existing application stack. You can easily identify which assets are being removed and understand the replacement components.

For a more comprehensive overview and detailed instructions on how to use the Solution Workbench, please visit the dedicated subpage: Solution Workbench.

Please note that the availability of this view is based on performance considerations and may be subject to limitations related to the number of assets in your application.

Products​

In this tab of a cloud proposal, you can see all the cloud products that will be used by the suggested target architecture. It offers an overview and highlights the key features and benefits of a product. As such, it can be helpful when choosing the cloud proposal that best fits your needs.

Note that you can also compare products across multiple cloud providers using the product comparison view

In the lower section of the Products tab, you find all the shared components of this proposal.

Infrastructure as Code​

Warning:

This feature is in an early beta stage! Please exercise caution!

We would like to emphasize that the Infrastructure as Code (IaC) feature in this tab is currently in the early beta stage. While it offers a powerful capability, we strongly advise against relying on the output without thorough manual verification of its content. Feedback is very welcome!

Within this tab, you have the ability to generate Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for your cloud service components. This IaC can be exported as an executable Terraform script, allowing you to automate the provisioning and management of your target architecture proposal.

Comments Tab​

Note that this tab is only available for the currently selected proposal (see below).

When collaborating on a selected proposal with multiple parties, it can be useful to document changes using comments. The comments tab provides an overview over all comments that users have left. They are ordered in reverse chronological order (newest comments are shown first). At the very top, you can leave a new comment and also add some attachments if required.

History Tab​

Note that this tab is only available for the currently selected proposal (see below).

This tab shows the history of the actual changes made to a proposal, such as when the proposal was selected. Each entry in the history also shows which user made a change.

Select / Save / Generate / Compare proposals​

Below the tab selection there are three buttons, Select Proposal, Save Proposal, and the Menu. Using the dropdown Menu you have the options to Generate alternative proposals, to export the results to EXCEL, or to print a PDF version of the current proposal.

Select/Edit/Remove Proposal​

Select Proposal confirms the current proposal as the target architecture of choice for the application you are viewing. Selecting a proposal writes back several values of the selected proposal to the application asset's properties. Properties that are filled or overwritten by selecting a proposal are marked with a padlock icon in the application's Edit Asset view.

If a proposal has already been selected, you will find the options Edit Proposal and Remove Selection. The first option allows you to adapt your selected proposal, for example by adding new assets to the target architecture. When a proposal is removed, the application's properties marked with a padlock are reset to default values. These are the same values proposed automatically by Txture before you selected a specific proposal.

Save Proposal​

Save Proposal stores the selected proposal for later comparison. Once you save a proposal, it will be available under the Saved Proposals tab above. Saving a proposal must not be confused with selecting a proposal. You can save several proposals for later use but you can select only a single proposal at a time.

Generate Alternative Proposal​

Generate Alternative Proposal allows you to generate the same proposal you are currently looking at but at a different provider or location. This makes it possible to easily compare the same offers at different providers or locations.

Note, that in order to have an alternative proposal be fully comparable to the original one, all the cloud products need to be available at the alternative data center. The alternative proposal generation will fail reporting which replacements weren't available if this condition is not fulfilled. As a tip: it can be useful to check the alternative locations in the summary of the cloud proposal before selecting a new data center for an alternative proposal.

Compare Proposals​

In order to quickly compare different proposals, you can add each proposal listed under the Available Proposals or Saved Proposals sections to the comparison view. To do so, click on the icon in the top right of a proposal card. Once you have added a number of proposals to the comparison, you can find them under the Compare tab.

You can assess the different proposals based on various criteria, including:

  • Products/Sizing: This provides a compact view of the products used in the proposals and their associated costs.
  • Costs: This aids in comparing pricing under different commitment scenarios.
  • Proposal Score: It indicates which proposal aligns best with your specified Target Architecture Preferences.
  • Migration Statistics: An overview of migration actions for each proposal.
  • Bill of Material (BOM): A detailed list of the components required for each proposal.

Note that you can compare proposals across different providers and migration strategies. If you want to remove a proposal from the comparison, simply deselect it by clicking on the icon once more.

Cloud product comparison​

When it comes to selecting different proposals, Txture simplifies the process of comparing cloud products for your specific application.

To access the product comparison feature, navigate to the cloud approach relevant to you. Below the list of providers, you'll find the SHOW PRODUCTS FILTER AND COMPARISON option. Click on this to expand the view.

Once you've expanded the view, you have two options:

  • Click on Compare features for a specific product category to view a full-page overview comparing the features of all available cloud products within that category.

  • Alternatively, you can filter the products by selecting one of them, helping you narrow down your selection based on your specific requirements.

This comparison feature assists you in making an informed decision about which cloud products are the best fit for your project.