researchHQ’s Key Takeaways:
- A company’s cloud migration strategy should align directly with its business goals and interests.
- Rather than expecting blanket cost reductions, organisations should focus on improved speed and innovation as the key benefits driving cloud adoption.
- Risk management is a crucial element in formulating balanced cloud deployments.
- Under the shared responsibility model IT and security teams are not absolved of responsibilities when an organisation migrates to the cloud.
Moving to the cloud without the right strategy results in higher costs, security flaws, and disappointment with the outcome, says Gartner.
Migrating data, applications, and other resources to the cloud has been on the to-do list for many organizations for some time. But with the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown, those efforts have ramped up even further as businesses are forced to support a remote workforce. Despite the increased need for cloud services, moving in this direction without a clear strategy is a process doomed to fail. A new forecast from research firm Gartner offers seven recommendations on how to effectively migrate to the cloud.
The advice was shared by Gartner analysts on Monday at the company’s virtual IT Infrastructure Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference 2020.
“A cloud strategy is critical for every organization and should be a concise point of view on cloud and its role in the organization,” Gartner senior research director Raj Bala said.
“Moving to cloud without a cloud strategy results in ad hoc adoption patterns, resulting in higher costs, disjointed management, security vulnerabilities, and overall dissatisfaction with cloud outcomes.”
1. Ensure cloud strategy follows business strategy
Business strategies vary significantly by organizations.
“It is crucial for enterprise architects and I&O leaders to ensure that their cloud strategy aligns with and actively supports their organization’s business strategy regardless of whether their organization provides consumer services, business services, or other products,” Bala said.
2. Assess five types of risks
When setting a cloud strategy, enterprise architects and I&O leaders must assess cloud-related risks for the following five types of risk: 1) agility risk; 2) availability risk; 3) security risk; 4) supplier risk; and 5) compliance risk. The possible risks must be weighed against the potential benefits in a balanced and compliant manner.
“Risk management must be an integral part of any cloud strategy process,” Bala said. “Formulating specific cloud exit strategies before committing to any cloud project or vendor risk management is a key step in reaching balanced cloud deployment decisions.”
