10 Approaches to Combat Common Cloud Strategy Pitfalls
Many organizations have no cloud strategy while thinking they have one. Executive leaders should follow these 10 approaches to enable cloud strategies that will provide maximum benefits for their organizations.
Overview
Key Challenges
· Many organizations compromise the effectiveness of their cloud strategy by assuming that it concerns only IT. Their IT functions devise their strategy without input from other parts of the organization and then try to “sell it” to the business.
· Many organizations believe they don’t need a cloud exit strategy because they don’t expect to bring anything back from the cloud. Those that create an exit strategy tend to focus on extricating themselves from contracts, ignoring important issues such as data ownership and egress charges.
· Organizations often believe they have devised a cloud strategy when they have instead created a cloud implementation plan. This means they haven’t considered business outcomes or asked “Why cloud?”
· Many organizations that haven’t devised a cloud strategy compound their mistake by believing it’s too late to create one because they’re already using cloud computing. Others believe that creating a strategy will require them to move everything to the cloud.
Recommendations
Executive leaders looking to enable a cloud strategy and maximize its effectiveness should:
· Ensure involvement of the cross-functional areas in its formation. Leverage expertise of those in the HR, legal and finance departments as well as other business units.
· Make sure that there is an exit strategy that gives agility, enabling the organization to respond to the ramifications of unforeseen events. Ensure it is wide-ranging and reasonable, covering issues such as backup, data ownership, portability and lock-in, as well as legal and contractual issues.
· Encourage the cloud strategy to be separate from the implementation plan, making the strategy the decision phase. Move discussion of how to select providers, migrate workloads to the cloud and manage the use of cloud computing to the cloud implementation plan.
· Enable the creation of a cloud strategy that explains why cloud computing is being used and describes its role in the organization. Ensure the strategy is a “living” document, updating it frequently to enhance its effectiveness.
Analysis
Following are approaches that executive leaders should adopt to avoid the top 10 cloud strategy mistakes:
Approach 1: Involve the Business, Not Just IT
The most common mistake that organizations make with their cloud computing strategy is to assume that it concerns only IT. But cloud computing isn’t only about technology. For example, those in the HR, legal and finance departments have skills and knowledge that would make their input to a cloud strategy valuable. Cloud adoption will impact every function in the organization. Executive leaders should work with their peers across functions to ensure they are:
1. Prepared for the cloud strategy
2. Contribute to the overall strategy to ensure successful adoption
3. Look for ways the use of cloud could benefit their specific functional areas
In addition, governance is usually part of a cloud strategy, so peers across every function should be a part of the strategy and governance discussions. If an IT-only cloud strategy has already been devised, executive leaders should ask their direct reports to use the strategy’s living document status to involve the business at the next scheduled update. Business and IT should be equal partners in defining the cloud strategy. Cloud has an impact on other areas within an organization and they should be driving the cloud strategy as well.
Approach 2: Ensure an Exit Strategy Is Devised
An exit strategy outlines considerations regarding extricating an organization from a cloud decision, if needed to. Many organizations, however, believe they don’t need an exit strategy because they don’t expect to bring anything back from the cloud. Although application repatriation from cloud back to a traditional data center is rare, it’s vital to have an exit strategy, even though you may never use it. This effort should also consider the possibility of changing providers, not just bringing workloads back on-premises. Also note that this is a strategic discussion at this point.
The details of actually exiting a specific service will vary and would be considered in more detail in operational exercises. Some regulators, mainly in the EU and those focused on financial services, are mandating an exit strategy. An exit strategy is vital for many reasons, including:
· Moving all or part of your estate from one cloud provider to another.
· Having contingency plans for unforeseen events, including those affecting the organization’s cloud usage.
A cloud strategy, by default, should enable scale up, but also scale down. So, in addition to “exit,” executive leaders should ensure there’s also a “scale down strategy,” which is extremely useful in today’s climate.
Approach 3: Separate the Cloud Strategy From the Implementation Plan
Many organizations confuse a cloud strategy with a cloud implementation plan (also known as a cloud adoption plan or cloud migration plan). But a cloud strategy must come first. It’s the decision phase in which the organization decides the role that cloud computing will play, if any. A cloud implementation plan comes next, putting the cloud strategy into effect.
Strategic planning starts at the top of the organization (from the CEO and board of directors) and describes the organization’s vision. A cloud strategy is part of the next level down in an organization’s three-layer strategic planning architecture, with other strategic plans such as the data center strategy, security strategy and architecture strategy. The cloud strategy must align with those other strategies and the organization’s vision.
There is often an existing security strategy that may or may not be current. The security strategy may even state that the organization shouldn’t use cloud computing. In this case, devising a cloud strategy would violate the security strategy. Alignment here is critical and often will involve a negotiation between the responsible parties.
Sometimes the cloud implementation plan is called a strategy document and is probably longer than 20 pages and extremely detailed. If such a document is in place, executive leaders should involve relevant stakeholders to refactor it into two separate documents: a cloud strategy and a cloud implementation plan.
Approach 4: Factor in What Is Already Done
Many organizations believe it’s too late to devise a cloud strategy if they’re already using cloud computing. But it’s better late than never. Organizations must ask why they’re using cloud computing and what its role is. If these questions can’t be answered or if the answers are not documented anywhere, then the organization needs to devise a cloud strategy. That doesn’t mean bringing things back from the cloud and starting again.
The cloud strategy will start by factoring in what the organization has already done. Executive leaders should ask their direct reports to assess their organizations’ use of cloud computing. Require them to examine and document the:
· Achievements
· Mistakes
· Lessons learned
The cloud strategy should reflect what has been learned and ensure that any mistakes already made are not repeated. Making the strategy a living document is vital to its success.
Approach 5: Keep an Open Mind
Don’t equate a cloud strategy with “We’re moving everything to the cloud.” It deters many from devising a cloud strategy because they think it means they’ll be forced to start using cloud computing for everything.
Executive leaders should keep an open mind when facilitating the devising of the strategy — they shouldn’t reach any conclusions before starting. For this reason, it’s best that someone other than a cloud technology expert devises the strategy. They should partner with an enterprise architect for the purpose.
Approach 6: Ensure the Cloud Strategy Is Aligned With the Organization’s Data Center Strategy
Many organizations confuse their cloud strategy with their data center strategy. They may plan to shut down their data center and call it their cloud strategy. But that isn’t a cloud strategy. Executive leaders should ensure their organizations’ cloud strategy and data center strategy are separate. However, they should also work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the cloud strategy aligns with, and factors in, the organizational data center strategy and any other strategic plan that affects the role that cloud computing will play in the organization.
Approach 7: Base Your Strategy on Target Outcomes and Business Imperatives, Not Mandates
Your strategy for using cloud computing should not be, “The CEO said so.” Many organizations adopt cloud computing because the executive leaders believe that doing so will result in cost savings. This is a very common mistake and one of many myths that continue to exist in the cloud world. However, cloud computing doesn’t always save money and this objective alone shouldn’t form the basis of a cloud strategy.
Executive leaders should ensure the cloud strategy is based on achieving target business outcomes and business imperatives. Usually the goal is to achieve:
· Cost savings and efficiency
· Agility, speed and innovation
To achieve both, executive leaders should work with their direct reports to examine the driving factor for the move to the cloud. While both may be desired, prioritization is necessary.
Agility can mean scaling down, which can be just as important as scaling up in some instances. Cloud strategy development is an exercise in trade-offs.
Approach 8: Accommodate Different Options
Some organizations simply follow one vendor’s cloud offerings into pursuing a single-vendor cloud strategy. But not only is this not a real strategy, it also doesn’t take into account the multiple types of cloud services and the reality that most vendors don’t offer all services — especially at the SaaS level. However, cloud computing isn’t just infrastructure as a service (IaaS). It also includes platform as a service (PaaS) offerings and integrated IaaS and PaaS offerings.
To exploit cloud computing, support a cloud strategy that includes different options:
· Cloud — IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
· Multicloud (using the same type of cloud services and features from multiple public cloud providers)
· Hybrid (using different types of IT solutions that work together)
· Distributed cloud
· Noncloud
Most organizations start with one cloud IaaS provider. They move numerous things to that provider and are usually pleased. As they haven’t usually devised a cloud strategy before starting, they gradually start to think about the ramifications of being too dependent on one provider. They then think about things such as their exit strategy and principles such as multicloud.
Devise a broad strategy. Ensure that it accommodates multiple types of scenarios, multiple kinds of cloud services, multiple vendors and noncloud environments.
Approach 9: Use Third Parties for Implementation, Not Strategy
Outsourcing the cloud strategy may sound attractive, but don’t do it. It’s far too important to outsource. Instead, use third parties for implementation. This can be a cost-effective way of procuring the scarce cloud skills the organization needs.
Providers may promote cloud strategies for customers based on, for example, moving from having 30% of their workload in the cloud to 40% in the next year. Such measures are usually more aligned to a provider’s strategy than the organization’s. Thus, a cloud strategy shouldn’t be based on them.
Approach 10: Make the Strategy More Than “We’re Cloud First”
Cloud first is an excellent principle for many organizations and should be included in their cloud strategies. A cloud-first approach means that if someone asks for an investment and it meets the relevant criteria, the default place for them to build or place this new item is in the public cloud. They would need a good reason to put it elsewhere. But a cloud-first principle shouldn’t force users to use the cloud; that’s a cloud-only policy.
However, just stating that the organization is cloud first is not an entire cloud strategy. That is only one aspect of it.
