Research Indicates That Cloud Strategy Must Coexist With Other Efforts
O Gartner, a world leader in enterprise research and advice, warns that a successful cloud strategy needs to assess and define the role of Cloud computing at all points in the organization. However, analysis indicates that business and IT leaders continue to make some common mistakes when crafting their cloud strategies.
Marco Meinardi, Vice President and Analyst at Gartner.
“A good strategy for using Cloud Computing should start with a short and consumable document, composed of 10 to 20 pages or slides”, says Marco Meinardi, Vice President and Analyst at Gartner. “Moreover, the business strategy should be the foundation of the cloud strategy and provide guidance to those who will implement it, coexisting with other strategic efforts, not trying to remake them.”
According to Gartner analysts, business and IT leaders must collaboratively create a cloud strategy. Gartner research indicates that the 10 most common errors in this process are:
1. Assume that investment in the Cloud is just an IT strategy – Cloud Computing is not just a matter of technology. Those outside of IT have essential skills and knowledge for the success of the Cloud Computing strategy. “Business and IT leaders must avoid the mistake of devising a technology-centric strategy and then having to try to 'sell' it to the rest of the business,” says Meinardi. “Business and IT must be equal partners in defining cloud strategy.”
2. Not having an exit strategy – Develop a health strategygoing from a Cloud provider, that is, to stop using services of a certain plan, It is a difficult task – and that's one of the reasons why many leaders choose not to create a plan with this focus. Many organizations believe that they will not one day need to move their assets out of their Cloud environment. However, such an exit strategy is vital to the success ofs Cloud initiatives of an organization. “It's like having an insurance policy in your drawer that you hope you never need to use,” says the Gartner analyst.
3. Combining or confusing a Cloud strategy with a Cloud implementation plan – A strategy for using Cloud resources is different from a plan for implementing Cloud services, and the Cloud strategy must always come first. It is the decision phase in which business and IT leaders decide the role that Cloud Computing will play in the organization. A Cloud implementation plan follows, putting the defined strategy into practice.
4. Believing It's Too Late to Develop a Cloud Strategy – It's never too late to start a Cloud strategy. “If organizations drive the adoption of cloud applications and resources without a strategy, it will end up causing resistance from individuals who are not aligned with the main drivers and principles of the strategy,” explains Meinardi. “As a result, this resistance will slow the adoption of cloud services and potentially jeopardize the entire project around this type of offering.”
5. Equate a Cloud strategy with the idea of “we are moving everything to the Cloud” – Many organizations assume that having a Cloud strategy means moving all data and applications to the Cloud. “This approach prevents many business and IT leaders from coming up with a strategy because they think it means they're going to be forced to start using cloud computing for everything,” says Meinardi. “Organizations should keep an open mind and partner with experts in non-cloud technologies, such as an enterprise architect, who can bring a broad point of view in defining their cloud plan.”
6. Saying our Cloud strategy is our Data Center strategy – Many organizations confuse their Cloud strategy with their Data Center strategy. While organizations need to keep them separate, they need to ensure they are aligned with each other because this affects the role Cloud Computing will play in your organization. “Cloud strategy decisions are specific to each workload, not just data center decisions”, reinforces the analyst.
7. Believing that an Executive Mandate is a strategy – Another common mistake organizations make is adopting Cloud Computing because the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Information Officer (CIO) or leader of a business unit believes it will result in cost savings. Gartner analysts recommend treating Executive Mandates as sponsorship for crafting a Cloud strategy, not the strategy itself. The cloud strategy must also maintain the connection with the business, ensuring organizations know why workloads are moving and what the purpose is.
8. Believing that hiring a supplier is the Cloud strategy – Organizations will likely use many different cloud services over time. As the use of these resources can become increasingly widespread and diverse, business and IT leaders must craft a broad strategy, accommodating multiple types of scenarios, cloud services, vendors, and non-cloud environments.
9. Outsource all Cloud strategy development – Outsourcing an organization's cloud strategy may sound attractive, but it shouldn't be done. Instead, Gartner analysts recommend that business and IT leaders use a third party – even the cloud provider – for implementation and support. This can be a cost-effective way to acquire the scarce cloud skills your organization needs.
10. Say that It is cloud-first is the whole strategy of A cloud – A Cloud Computing-first approach means that if someone requests an investment, the default place to put the new asset is on Cloud resources Ppublic. "But to be cloud-first does not mean to be only in the Cloud. If business and IT leaders are to embrace the cloud-first principle, their strategy must address exceptions to the default choice, with applicationtions and data that will need to be allocated elsewhere, in addition to the Cloud environment”, recommends Meinardi.
