The potential benefits of the Cloud are forcing organizations to leverage new Cloud technologies, yet many find it challenging to realize full value from their Cloud investments. According to Flexera’s 2021 State of the Cloud report, 92% of organizations surveyed are using multi-Cloud systems, but they self-report an estimated waste of 30% of their Cloud spending. For the last five years they found that organizations’ top priority when it comes to the Cloud is optimizing existing Cloud usage largely by controlling costs.
The Cloud gives organizations on-demand access to an endless array of IT resources that can help them quickly adapt to change and Turn Change Into ValueTM. The challenge is figuring out an approach that optimizes what the Cloud has to offer, uniquely for their organization.
Cloud Readiness
To get the most value from your Cloud efforts and investments, they must align with and support your current and future business objectives. You need to have a collective, high-level understanding of why your applications, data and infrastructure are suited for the Cloud and how leveraging the Cloud improves your ability to achieve these business objectives.
Cloud Intelligence
Draw on those who have expertise, knowledge and experience with the external landscape to learn how similar organizations are succeeding with the Cloud and if there are common challenges they face. Cloud experts can give insight into the advantages and disadvantages of the various Cloud providers and keep you updated on the latest capabilities.
Assess Legacy Technology
Conduct an internal review to assess your existing legacy technology. Some may be perfectly suited for a lift and shift migration into the Cloud, but other technologies might not be. It is best to first migrate technology that is a better fit so your IT team can gain familiarity with the new environment and build their skills for more advanced tasks.
For legacy technology that is tougher to shift, take a strategic, longer-term view that includes a cost-benefit assessment to determine the best solution. Modifications and adjustments are often the best course of action, but the application development capabilities that the Cloud provides might make a rebuild an efficient, optimal choice.
Deployment Models
Cloud providers each have unique qualities and features and most organizations use some sort of multi-Cloud or hybrid deployment model tailored to their specific needs. It is important to take a provider agnostic approach that starts with determining your needs and objectives and then identifies what deployment model works best for you.
A multi-Cloud strategy has many benefits. It allows you to take advantage of best-in-breed technology for specific tasks, it provides flexibility and prevents lock-in to any single provider. Cloud arbitrage is also possible with multi-Cloud, which allows you to comparison shop between your providers based on performance and pricing at any given time.
Hybrid Cloud is a type of multi-Cloud strategy that allows you to use multiple Cloud resources to perform a single task. Many organizations pair private and public Cloud resources to combine the security of maintaining resources and data on premises with the scalability and elasticity of the public Cloud.
Team Skill Capability
You won’t get the most out of your Cloud investments if your IT team does not have the needed Cloud skillsets your technology requires. There is a high demand for Cloud skills in general, but consider how much more valuable it is to marry Cloud skills with intimate knowledge of your organization’s unique business objectives, challenges and needs.
A Dojo approach of “learning by doing” can teach your team the Cloud skills they can use to best leverage their understanding of existing systems and the organization. Training your staff with experts who work with them side-by-side can accelerate your value delivery and organizational IT capabilities while reducing your long-term reliance on external support.
Turn Change Into Value with the Cloud
The Cloud provides powerful capabilities that allow organizations to be flexible and quickly Turn Change Into Value by responding to and taking advantage of emerging opportunities. In the Cloud, your existing applications run better, they are easier to manage and can be updated to include the latest features that help you provide what your customers want.
The challenge is figuring out what works best for your organization. A strategic approach that assesses both the external and internal technologies and environments with a focus on building IT team skills can build a foundation that helps you get the most out of your Cloud spending.
