Can a lifecycle approach to cloud adoption improve success?

, Sep 7, 2021

Cloud adoption skyrocketed throughout the pandemic, and Gartner forecasts spending on public cloud to increase over 18% this year as organisations continue migrating to more agile, flexible, and secure environments.

However, despite this mammoth move to the cloud, only 3% of organisations have an optimised cloud strategy. Even with these accelerated efforts, when companies migrate to the cloud without a holistic plan, at best they are unlikely to unlock the full value of cloud, and at worst will fail to see any benefits at all and may disrupt their own business operations.

Businesses now need to take a step back and assess whether these temporary ‘lift and shift’ solutions, fit with the business objectives and overall strategy. By reassessing, re-evaluating, and optimising the cloud migration journey, companies can determine whether they are truly unlocking the value and benefits the cloud has to offer.


Start with the end in mind

Cloud migration offers a range of benefits from security to scalability. Successful and optimised cloud migration, especially in the post-pandemic digital economy, will be critical for achieving real-time performance and efficiency. On top of this a successful cloud migration allows businesses to assess where they are versus where they want to be, supporting this lifecycle and providing them with the flexibility to achieve their goals.

Cloud computing services deliver a vast range of capabilities, and one clear benefit is that firms can avoid the upfront cost and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, instead paying for what they use, when they use it. A study by Nasscom revealed that more than 70% of CIOs are prioritising digital spending and moving to an OpEx model.

“Traditional capital expenditure (CapEx) models require companies to purchase more hardware than necessary, to plan for additional capacity, and many don’t use it as workloads can fluctuate. With current global chip shortages, delays in production and shipping are having a measurable impact on hardware lead-times for business critical projects, so even in instances where businesses have bought hardware they may find it is not available when they need it.

“Alternatively, operating expenditure (OpEx) models and flexible, agile infrastructure through the cloud means companies only pay for what they need, when needed, maximising cost and ROI as well as optimising environments whatever a business’ goals may be,” states Toby Alcock, CTO at Logicalis.

“It’s also worth noting that inefficient cloud environments can cause various issues, including security vulnerabilities, inflated costs, non-compliance, performance, and more. A trusted partner can support the entire infrastructure through the lifecycle from initial cloud migration to ongoing managed services which safeguard optimisation," continues Alcock.

Outline risks and governance strategy

Cloud can deliver scale and agility to every aspect of business operations. Technology can unleash business potential and help to reach organisational goals but should not be delivered in isolation, and without holistic planning and stakeholder alignment, there are potential risks. It is essential to do proper planning to identify and outline risks, create a governance strategy, and ensure that funding and resources are used efficiently on the cloud migration journey.

Some essential steps include:

  1. Document existing IT processes and identify any changes to IT operations such as delivery, security, and compliance
  2. Perform risk analysis and identify any potential issues for the project
  3. Understand the transition plan to minimise the impact on operational continuity for your organisation
  4. Consider how the project can have a positive impact and provide value to the organisation
  5. Evaluate expertise, bandwidth, and the ability of the team to achieve the objectives

Organisations can make the mistake of assuming their cloud transformation will be faultless and will not need outside help. Unfortunately, more than half of companies undergoing cloud transformation admit it was more challenging than expected.

Companies may experience unexpected costs as transformation plans exceed budget, fall behind schedule due to a lack of expertise, and experience downtime due to incompatibility between legacy software and cloud services. The cloud migration journey is complex, and dedicated expertise is often needed to navigate the challenges.

Explore your options with a trusted advisor

Cloud transformation may be one of the most important journeys a business begins. Fast becoming the dominant IT model, it delivers choice, efficiency, and flexibility to match changing business needs and support rapid growth. But this journey needs enterprise-grade reliability, governance of corporate data, and strong security controls.

It is crucial to plan a cloud migration thoroughly as well as taking into account future business needs to achieve long-term goals. By taking a lifecycle approach and evaluating the stage your business is at today, companies can create an action plan that delivers immediate value and prepares the business to move to the next stage. This allows businesses to anticipate potential problems whilst producing solutions, making it easier to overcome obstacles and improve not only the success of cloud migration but their own success as they harness the power of the cloud to reach your goals.

Working with an expert partner can assist businesses in achieving the benefits and ensuring long-term success. An expert partner not only helps with cloud migration but provides managed services to provide a blueprint for continued success. Logicalis’ experience with Private, Hosted, Hybrid, and public cloud guarantees that organisations receive a secure, agile, scalable, and highly available environment that conforms to the strictest security standards.

By partnering with an expert managed services provider, businesses can beat the odds, unlock all the business benefits the cloud has to offer, and have the flexibility and resilience to adapt no matter what future obstacles may arise.

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