Identify which procurement model the customer's Finance team prefers and why it matters for your recommendation.
| Question | Your Answer |
|---|---|
| Is this customer's IT budget primarily capital or operating? | |
| Does the current on-prem infrastructure appear on their balance sheet as a capital asset? | |
| What fiscal year constraint applies to this purchase decision? | |
| Is there a CapEx → OpEx reframing needed to make cloud attractive to their CFO? |
The CoI is not "what is the current system costing you": it is the compounding cost of staying put. Complete all four CoI components.
Infrastructure, licensing, FTEs allocated to maintenance (not innovation), facilities, DR.
Probability × cost of an unplanned outage, security breach, or compliance failure in the current state. Use ranges; precision is not the goal.
Features, products, or initiatives that cannot be built because engineering capacity is absorbed by the current system's debt. Translate to revenue or market position where possible.
How many people hold undocumented knowledge of the current system? What is the departure risk? What does replacement cost?
The TCO comparison must be symmetric: the legacy column must include all hidden costs. Incomplete legacy columns are the most common reason TCO arguments fail CFO review.
| Cost Category | Legacy (On-Prem): 3 Year | Azure: 3 Year | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware / infrastructure | |||
| Software licensing | |||
| Facilities (power, cooling, space) | |||
| Disaster recovery / BCP | |||
| FTE operations labor | |||
| Hardware refresh / depreciation | |||
| Security patching / compliance labor | |||
| Professional services (migration) | N/A | ||
| Training / reskilling | N/A | ||
| Total 3-Year TCO |
TVO captures what the investment enables, not just what it saves. Lead with TVO when the customer is in a growth conversation.
What can engineering teams build / ship that they cannot today? Translate to time-to-market, developer hours freed, or new revenue streams.
What happens to unit cost at 2x, 5x, 10x current volume? Does Azure elastic scaling outperform a fixed-capacity refresh?
What compliance exposure, audit risk, or regulatory cost disappears? Attach a dollar figure to certifications no longer needed or insurance premiums reducible.
Does modernizing attract engineers who currently reject legacy stacks? Does it reduce the key-person risk identified in B4?
Write the one-paragraph CFO summary of your recommendation. Rules: five or fewer technical acronyms total; open with the business outcome, not the architecture; no jargon that requires translation. Then count your acronyms.
Jargon-Free Test result: If a CFO read this paragraph without a technical advisor in the room, could they make the decision? Circle: YES / NOT YET