How do CIOs, IT professionals, and leaders take advantage of the cloud as the business shifts to Digital on Cloud? While the cloud opens up a plethora of options and has been trending in the industry for over a decade now defining and building a cloud strategy is one of the key challenges faced by several leaders. While the leaders are getting plagued with the indecision of choosing the right cloud platform, it is important to understand the consumption pattern of the cloud services and the available vendors in the market to be able to make the right decision.
Though the cloud technology has been on in the market for long, confusion prevails around security, cost and the overall governance. However it the technology continues to grow as the spine for Digital transformation and the internet of things. Cloud is gaining significant investment due to the kind of success stories that it has delivered in the past. Finding value at the crux of cost and governance is the key for many CIO’s and technology leaders to adopt and decide on the right cloud strategy.
Creating a Migrating plan to cloud alone may not be the most suitable strategy, but there could be multiple approaches to the adoption of cloud which can be classified as a hybrid cloud strategy. An Ideal cloud adoption strategy must involve:
- Planning
- Enterprise capabilities and Vision
- Target architecture and enablers
- GAP Analysis and transition planning
- Implementation
- Governance
- SOA
- Industry standards
First and foremost it is essential to understand business objectives and enterprise goals. It is a mandate to create your cloud business case and corresponding ROI. Define the cloud outcome could be achieving financial savings, improving the efficiency of IT operations or it may even be improving customer experience.
Once through with the above steps, the most critical step is vendor evaluation and selection. Service capabilities and features required need to be documented well before you venture out on this journey.
Though cloud existed for over a decade, it has been plagued with security concerns and uncertainty. Beware of Cloud washing while choosing the vendor. It continues to have a negative effect on the industry. The overall cloud adoption process needs good governance with constant monitoring of the development and progression keeping business continuity as the number one priority. With several confusions surrounding it, the CMO may turn out to be a faster adapter to the cloud.
