SOLUTION BRIEF VMware Aria Cost Powered by CloudHealth Partner Success Service

Platform training

We know the importance of getting your team fully engaged with a platform to maximize benefits to your business, which is why we offer role-based learning to speed your time to value during onboarding.

You are responsible for scheduling and participating in platform training. For maximum value, we recommend that all training be completed within the first 120 days and that you have six Platform Administrator Associate Certified users as well as six Partner Specialist Certified users.

The Partner Success Service package includes:

• A review of the setup of policies for automated governance of your cloud infrastructure
• An introduction to the VMware Aria Cost platform webinar or e-learning
• Prescribed, role-based learning paths that consist of up to eight hours of hands-on virtual instruction
• Participation in regional partner training boot camps
• An annual subscription to VMware Aria Cost platform training expansion webinars

You may also elect to purchase additional training subscriptions for more users and/or custom training on the topic(s) of your choice

Participate in business reviews

At a minimum of once per year, we will conduct business reviews with the intent to focus on the status of onboarding and subsequent VMware Aria Cost adoption adoption and value realization. The required attendees for this meeting are the cloud program manager, the executive sponsor, and the technical contact(s).

VMware responsibilities

In addition to designating your account team and providing a training plan, VMware will also be responsible for the following activities.

Conduct a kickoff meeting

To start, your TAM will set up a kickoff meeting to go over your strategic implementation plan. During this meeting, your TAM will ensure the alignment of goals and the roles of each team member between both parties. The TAM will also provide a 120-day timeline for platform implementation and align expectations related to onboarding and training.

Conduct a technical review

The TAM will work with the cloud program manager and technical contact(s) from your organization to finalize the configuration of your accounts, and prioritize the work that needs to be completed as part of the 120-day onboarding process. Tasks that will be completed during the onboarding process can include:

• Customer tenant configuration
• Partner billing configuration
• Perspective creation
• Report building
• Governance policies and automation
• Rightsizing and reservation management

The TAM will highlight any unconfigured functionalities that will impact getting value from the platform. Areas the TAM will check on are:

• Account configuration:

– Are all accounts healthy?
– Is Amazon CloudWatch properly configured? AWS Config? AWS CloudTrail?
– If applicable, are end-customer tenants set up per VMware best practices?

• Performance metrics:

– Are performance metrics being pushed to VMware Aria Cost (e.g., Datadog, CloudHealth Agent, etc.)?
– Is the number of “Assets Not Allocated” acceptable?

• Perspectives:

– Are Perspectives properly set up?
– Is the number of “Assets Not Allocated” acceptable?

• User roles/organizations:

– Are the right user roles set up?
– If needed, are organizations set up?
– Is single sign-on (SSO) properly configured

Consult for onboarding or ongoing activity

Your TAM will consult with you on the onboarding and configuration of the platform as well as the ongoing usage and adoption of the platform: 

• Onboarding:

– Cloud environment setup
– Customer tenant configuration
– Partner billing configuration
– Perspective creation
– Report building
– Governance policies and automation
– Rightsizing and reservation management

• Ongoing:

– Guidance on VMware Aria Cost platform APIs
– Use and configuration of custom price books
– Guidance on billing families configuration
– Escalation management for high-priority support tickets
– Ongoing product release reviews and technical working sessions
– Advising on industry best practices
– Advising on leveraging VMware Aria Cost to support a growing customer base
– Analysis and review of benchmarking data for your top three customer

Conduct business reviews and success planning

At a minimum of once per year, your account team will conduct a business review with key stakeholders from your organization to focus on adoption of VMware Aria Cost powered by CloudHealth with your customer base go-to-market strategy, and value realization.

The initial business review will be scheduled at the 120-day mark and focus on the following:

• Onboarding status
• Partner-specific metrics (e.g., adoption metrics, usage metrics, etc.)
• Results and deliverables from the previous 120 days
• Major obstacles to success (and how to get back on track)
• New products or features you might be interested in
• Areas for additional adoption or value realization
• New goals and next steps

In addition to the business review, your account team will help you develop a success plan. This is a customized activity map that considers your company profile, goals, and specific ways VMware Aria Cost can contribute to your definition of success. This evolving plan considers the following components:

• Strategic goals – What are your overall corporate goals?
• Business driver – What are the keys to your success?
• Success objective – How will you measure if you’re on track to achieve business drivers?
• Program activities – What specific activities, owners and timelines will contribute to your success?

Continuous check-ins

Your designated TAM will check in regularly to ensure usage is on track, assist in overcoming any obstacles, and point out areas that may require attention. This proactive outreach helps keep your environment healthy and identify potential savings opportunities.

Continuous check-ins happen:

• Weekly for the first month
• At the 30-, 60-, 90- and 120-day marks
• A minimum of once per quarter