Hybrid Target Operating Models

There is no longer any doubt that cloud, particularly public cloud such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS), is now a major part of mainstream I.T platform design for business and enterprise organisations around the world. 95% of organisations surveyed globally are running applications or experimenting with infrastructure as-a-service (IAAS). For a growing number of organisations adopting a cloud-first strategy is becoming the foundation of their future business strategy. There are many challenges involved in the migration to and subsequent management of Hybrid Cloud environments, all too often cloud strategy lacks a true end-to-end cohesion, early shadow I.T use cases such as Dev/Ops environments do not always make for ideal blueprints when considering a wholesale shift in enterprise architecture design. Hybrid cloud has emerged as the preferred solution to bridge the gaps between public and private environments.

Generally cloud users are already running applications across a blend of SAAS, private and public clouds, not withstanding the benefits of hyper-scaled resources and flexible software consumption models, hybrid operating models by comparison have proven significantly more challenging than the technology itself to nail down. Defining a future target operating model is a vital step in the journey towards successful cloud integration, the temptation to obsess over technology features and functions can lead many organisation down a path which finds people and process left behind. Good target operating models, often referred to as (TOM) contain a blend of clear business objective, defining principals, organisational structure, roles and technology tools. Introducing many of the new cloud services into an existing TOM can cut right across current operating process, hybrid by its very nature suggests a blended approach, and yet many find themselves running cloud platforms on one level and legacy systems on another. Hybrid cloud thought process to some is limited to a technology dialog or vendor choice, changes in network design, options around storage platform or improved automation tools and methods perhaps, in reality the entire business can become "hybrid", cloud has the potential to transform a business from the ground up, not just simply update the same old systems.

Effective alignment with cloud native services requires an honest appraisal of the business objective and the associated process and people engaged thereafter. As more and more cloud service providers offer completely automated services for basics like infrastructure provisioning, container management, security/threat monitoring, code-powered function and event based computing, the need to correctly align your target operating model will naturally increase. Decisions made during the definition stages of your TOM discussion will flow down into the very foundations and fabric of your cloud platform service design, defining user experience, impacting service availability, and determining long-term operational overheads. The technology gap between traditional enterprise architectural models using guidelines such as ITIL, ITSM and Togaf, and those born native in the cloud using (PAAS) is widening, but importantly the value of those disciplines are not all together lost. The "enterprise" foundation need to continue to evolve, it needs to encompass different tools and technology, security and governance needs to adapt to an ever expanding edge, process needs to reflect changing delivery methods and higher end user expectation.

Microsoft and AWS have over 400 cloud native components between them, understanding where these new technologies and services can add value to an existing target operating model requires a fresh viewpoint, often an abstracted view of the business objective which can then elevate the dialog away from its techno-babble baseline, into real business benefit and problem solving value. Company85, (part of Telstra Plc). has built a reputation across the industry as an organisation whose genuine guidance looks closely at the business problem and then aligns the right solution with the right people to solve those problems. Cloud strategy is no exception, chat with our team to find out more.

Barry Whitfield Company85