5 Key Elements to a Successful Cloud Adoption Journey

Most organizations are leaning towards cloud computing to drive Digital Transformation. Cloud Computing offers multiple benefits such as scalability, service flexibility, resilience and business continuity prospects, and improved decision making. As organisations lean towards digital transformation in the post-pandemic world, the cloud platform will allow businesses to work remotely and flexibly. Cloud computing is also an excellent option to consider for your sustainability goals, as it helps reduce carbon footprint. In this article, I have tried to pen down five key elements to chalk up your cloud adoption journey.

Establish Business Case and Secure Sponsorship

Cloud services can offer a range of technical and financial efficiencies and capabilities when compared to the alternative of your existing IT infrastructure. However, exploring the options and choosing what is suitable for your organisational goals is an equally crucial strategic step—beginning with understanding the economics of the cloud. Microsoft Azure equips you with a plethora of research-based information to estimate the business value of Microsoft Azure.

Your cloud migration strategy should also consider the needs of your business plan. Look at how the capabilities of cloud technology can book business scenarios. Identify the gaps you wish to fill using the cloud platform and how this change will impact your employees and customers. Parallelly, you should have a change management strategy in place for this migration. As it is usually said, adopting a cloud strategy is not an upgrade to your IT infrastructure, rather an introduction of an entirely new platform.

Compliance ?

Cloud computing needs to have clear strategies before diving into cloud migration; larger companies have complicated legacy systems. The four significant and universal challenges addressed by compliances are data transfer, data visibility, data security responsibility, and data access.

Don’t rush into migrating into the cloud services without considering long term and short term plans. These might include decisions such as which monolithic systems your company wishes to keep for the foreseeable future. Transferring applications and moving them straight into the cloud won’t gain the most value from the cloud infrastructure, resulting in more complex and expensive system architecture.

Organisations need to have proper procedures to meet regulations applicable to their industry, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO, and more. Compliance standards and frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and CIS Benchmarks? aren’t mandatory but are great tools to help you circumvent compliance challenges.

Capability

Consider what this transformation might have to offer to your organisation. The benefits of cloud computing are broadly categorised as flexibility, efficiency, and strategic value. Organizations need to build Cloud platform capabilities within their teams across the following categories:

1)????Identity services & Security Services.

2)????Cloud Operations

3)????Platform services

4)????Devops

5)????Change management

Small businesses can immensely benefit from this move, as the cloud allows them to scale quickly, accelerate new product launches, and build an international presence without building a mass of servers.

?Security

According to the Coalfire report, 93% of enterprises are concerned with cloud-based platforms’ security when storing sensitive data. Cloud platforms advance their security, but it ultimately rests on the customer’s responsibility to secure their data within the cloud environment. Some of the key issues are data loss, privacy, confidentiality, misconfiguration of cloud platforms, unauthorised access, compliance, insecure interfaces and APIs, and lack of visibility into infrastructure.

?To this end, compliance and security should be integrated into code. Security teams must get up to speed in securing serverless environments. They should have the control and practice to secure software development lifecycle and integrate security checks to catch vulnerabilities and other threats in the workflow. They need to script specific policies and figure out how to use API to collect information in every build, getting it into a dedicated inventory system to ensure easier processing and controls. To boost security defences, invest in cloud systems that encrypt data-at-rest, automate compliance, and have APIs to audit and alert about security events.

?For a case sensitive example of secure cloud migration, read Cerner’s collaboration with Microsoft here.

?Operation Readiness

Cloud computing is known to be a better and efficient way of consuming computing resources. Although the initial installation might be a significant investment for the organisation, the choice seems clear compared with the cost of maintaining legacy software and onsite, large data centres. For instance, the need for larger, more powerful servers might only last for a short period, which can easily be adjusted for cloud computing service. Your cloud migration strategy should also review potential barriers while developing a new cloud storage system. Some of these could include adaptation required on people and processes, psychological barriers, security issues, etc. People and processes are considered to be success factors. The SANS survey shows that 52% viewed the training of developers and engineers as the most important while 51% cited communication between developed, security, and operation teams as crucial.

?Another crucial element of your operation readiness pack is testing processes before launching. Quality assurance should necessarily be a part of your contract with the service providers. Lastly, parameters reflecting your successful cloud migration could include business impact, project timeline, user experience and adoption, performance and security.

?In the post-pandemic world, cloud computing has undeniably become a part of the way businesses are running. This blog covered five key considerations that will hopefully guide your journey. Ensure that cloud computing services are compliant with your system requirements. Develop a strategy before diving into cloud migration, which will help bring out more value of using the cloud-based services. Integrate compliance and security issues into the strategy, including quality assurance.

?Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure provides a helpful guide covering all the essential pointers. Moreover, it has excellent assessment tools enabling you to evaluate your workload, assess your cloud adoption needs, and define governance benchmarks.

?I hope you find these resources useful. In the comment section below, share your cloud experiences and what barriers or benefits you faced.

?

Sources

1.?????https://azurecomcdn.azureedge.net/cvt-77f94256f1c090f65c1a7a723791f2b6776f142767230e7a53a61deadacd009a/files/overview/cloudenablement/idc%20-%20business%20value%20of%20azure%20enablement%20-%20whitepaper.pdf

2.?????https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1721654.1721672

3.?????https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/06/05/13-biggest-challenges-when-moving-your-business-to-the-cloud/?sh=6bc258959b0e

4.?????https://techbeacon.com/security/rethink-your-devsecops-4-key-lessons-achieving-security-code

5.?????https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/overview/what-is-cloud-computing/#benefits

6.?????https://www.coalfire.com/documents/whitepapers/securealities-cloud-security-report

7.?????https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-adoption-framework/#overview

8.?????https://technative.io/break-barriers-cloud-adoption/

9.?????https://www.mdm.com/blog/tech-operations/technology/4-major-mistakes-that-can derail-a-cloud-migration/

10. https://www.idg.com/tools-for-marketers/2020-cloud-computing-study/

11. https://www.trendmicro.com/en_in/devops/21/f/the-3-major-benefits-of-cloud-migration-cloud-compliance.html

12. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/global-infrastructure/sustainability/

?

?