Cloud computing has been there for a long time.
However, the rate of adoption has increased over the last six months in the wake of the global pandemic.
According to a global survey of IT leaders, 82% of the respondents have confirmed that they have ramped up cloud adoption after they shifted to remote working.
The benefits of cloud computing are well-known. However, what companies majorly ignore while moving to the cloud is the importance of having a comprehensive cloud strategy and cloud security.
A cloud strategy enables the company to migrate to the cloud securely without affecting the existing systems and operations. A rock-solid cloud strategy can help companies optimize the benefits of the cloud, maximize their profits, minimize risks, and kickstart a successful journey to the cloud.
Read: Cloud Is Not Necessarily Cheaper, But You Should Go To The Cloud Anyway
Building a rock-solid cloud strategy
Here are a few ways in which companies can build a cloud strategy.
Determine the objective
The first step before moving to the cloud is to answer the why, what, and how questions. The CIOs and cloud architects of the company must answer crucial questions on how will moving to the cloud benefits the company. What type of cloud to choose – should it be public, private, native, hybrid, or multi-cloud, will it have an impact on the business’ top-line growth? Will it create differentiation for the company? It’s advisable to get clarity at an early stage itself to avoid making wrong choices at the later stages of migration.
Determine which applications to move first
Every company will have mission-critical applications and non-critical applications. The best way to pilot test the cloud strategy is to move the non-critical applications to the cloud-first. Companies can make a list of applications and segregate them as critical and non-critical to make an informed choice. Migrating the non-critical applications will give the decision-makers the time to evaluate if the strategy is working and strengthen the migration process further. Before moving, it is important to note the interdependencies between the applications. So, moving one application without another could make the whole process futile. It is advisable to carefully assess and understand the complexities involved with different applications before doing a pilot test.
Read: The Evolution of Distributed Enterprise Systems Towards The Cloud
Define the re-architecture plan for the legacy systems
Re-architecting implies revamping monolithic applications according to modern architecture. Re-architecting an entire legacy system can be time-consuming and cost-intensive. However, in some cases, it is also imperative to do so to make it scalable and viable for cloud migration, given that they have different computing needs and consume more resources. Re-architecting reduces interdependencies among applications and makes the migration easily manageable through an interface. In some cases, companies can choose to migrate only those components that are critical to the business. So, determine how to do the re-architecting of legacy systems before migrating them to the cloud.
Work with expert technology partners
Evaluating and choosing the right technology partner is a crucial step in cloud strategy.
Here are a few things that companies must do while choosing a partner.
- Evaluate if the partner understands the business and the need for cloud migration.
- The partner needs to have deep domain expertise to know the business criticality of the applications and processes.
- Ask them to provide a reference of other customers to gauge their authenticity, experience, and expertise.
- Ensure that they have highly skilled technical talent to plan and manage the migration– The tech talent should be well conversant with the legacy as well as modern technologies.
- Ensure that they provide maintenance, training, and post-deployment support when required.
- Do a cost-benefit analysis to know if the whole process of migration and support fits within the stipulated budget.
Manage security and compliance
One of the major roadblocks to cloud adoption is data security and compliance with regulations. For example, a financial company could be worried about sensitive data such as customer holdings getting leaked into the public domain. The selected cloud deployment must thoroughly understand the overall security strategy of the company and align the overall cloud strategy according to it. The decision-makers in the company should have an audit mechanism to ensure that the cloud strategy complies with the legal and regulatory requirements.
Take baby steps to become a cloud-ready enterprise
According to research, 73% of cloud migration projects take a year or longer to get completed. Cloud migration is not an overnight process. It requires careful planning and flawless execution. The best way to begin is by taking baby steps. Companies can begin by optimizing the applications for the cloud, so they can leverage all the cloud features post-migration. It also becomes easier to update and replicate them. For legacy applications, companies can decide which parts of the system should be optimized first or which need to be re-architected to make it cloud-ready.
Conclusion
Developing and deploying a cloud strategy requires deep technology expertise, domain knowledge, and business understanding.
At Wissen, we help companies in the end-to-end process – right from assessing cloud their requirements and coming up with a strategy to migrating the applications to the cloud and managing those. Let’s connect to make the cloud work for you!
