From the course: Cloud Architecture: Design Decisions

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 25,300 courses taught by industry experts.

Soft costs and benefits

Soft costs and benefits

From the course: Cloud Architecture: Design Decisions

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

Soft costs and benefits

“

- Soft costs and soft benefits are not as obvious to determine and thus assumptions need to be made, many which cannot be calculated to the dollar. For example, we all know the benefits of agility for a business. Adapting quickly to market changes allows you to grow the business faster. However, it is difficult to determine the exact benefits for a business and the value of those benefits. Much the same can be said about soft costs. For example, moving to the cloud may require extensive retraining and hiring, and these costs take work to determine dollar for dollar. Thus, educated estimates are made and adjusted ongoing. Moreover, there may be additional harder to predict costs, such as a decrease in sales as the enterprise moves to the cloud, which could occur if the new system impacts the time it takes to learn the latest systems and develop an understanding that will drive short-term efficiency. This is sometimes known as transition cost, a soft cost since we don't understand…

Contents