For most organisations, cloud presents a number of exciting opportunities for improved functionality, streamlined delivery and agile operations. It’s always an exciting time when the decision is made to embrace the cloud, however large or small the scale may be. But it’s important that during the discovery phase, all necessary considerations are taken into account. Not sure what these considerations are?

Mangano IT is here to help.

Identify and define what the cloud means for YOU.

The cloud really does mean something different for almost everybody. For some organisations, it’s about software as a service (SaaS) applications that can be easily accessed from anywhere to facilitate mobility and remote working. For others, it’s about speeding up time to market for services and products with things like the automation of virtual machines (VMs). And then for some it’s about developing a robust, future proof IT environment that allows for agile, flexible work practices.

Before jumping head first into a cloud journey, take the time to identify what you want to improve in your current environment, and what you want to achieve with help from the cloud. And if you’re not 100 percent sure on what that might look like, confide in cloud and infrastructure experts, we work on differing and unique discovery projects each and every day.

Determine if a cloud solution is the right fit for YOU.

After defining what the cloud means for you, you need to assess if that definition aligns with your business model moving forward, essentially, will it be something your team and people will get behind and embrace?

Moving to the cloud brings significant changes to an organisation, changes which range from how basic processes are completed right through to the delivery of entirely new services. With this in mind, during the discovery phase it’s important to get all relevant stakeholders within your organisation on board, from admin and HR right through to governance, development and sales.

By engaging with your people early on in the process, no one is left in the lurch about the project, they appreciate the inclusion and you can outline to the team why this new solution makes sense, as opposed to them potentially just seeing what the solution is without any context. During this time, questions and concerns can also be addressed holistically, which makes for a much smoother implementation process, should you identify that the cloud is the right fit for your organisation.

Assess if the timing is RIGHT.

Just because moving to the cloud makes sense, doesn’t necessarily mean it makes sense right now. It’s important that you assess your current situation because there may be a number of reasons why now is not right for a cloud migration. As an example, you may have a number of years to run on a leasing deal with your current infrastructure, or you may have several other changes already in the pipeline which would only compound the disruption caused by a cloud migration. Be conscious of any strain currently on your staff and infrastructure, and be realistic with the added disruption that a migration would create.

Be intuitive and astute around the ECONOMICS of the cloud.

With the explosion of cloud computing, organisations can sometimes be forgiven for not going over the entire business case for cloud adoption as they know on the whole, it’s a good move. But evaluating the economics of the cloud from a holistic standpoint is an invaluable exercise. Hidden costs can sometimes snowball depending on your requirements, plus it never hurts to be a tad frugal when assessing potential investments.

You need to evaluate the total cost of ownership differentials between your proposed cloud environment and that of your current IT infrastructure. In addition to this, you also need to take into account and make educated estimates on any new income streams that may be generated through the implementation of the cloud, so things like faster time to market for services, improved staff productivity and less downtime.

Execute well and ALWAYS continue to learn and improve.

It’s implementation time, fantastic. When commencing a new cloud project, be sure to address each relevant stakeholder on their role and any duties that they may have, and make sure they’re supported with the right assistance and materials to make the transition as smooth as humanly possible.

If you don’t have the necessary skills internally to orchestrate the migration, then by all means lean on an IT managed services provider that does. Cloud skills can be hard to come by, and a lot of the time organisational budgets just don’t facilitate the necessary resources to execute.

And once completed, make sure you’re continuously working on developing a culture of improvement when it comes to your cloud services. It’s an experience that is always evolving, growing and transforming. So be sure that your people are always looking for new and innovative ways to leverage the cloud and drive differentiation for your organisation.

Mangano IT help Queensland organisations undertake cloud discovery assessments like this on a daily basis. Getting the right infrastructure and cloud balance is key to your readiness for the digital economy and in partnership with Microsoft, Mangano IT delivers an ever-expanding set of cloud services through Microsoft Azure that gives you a bespoke solution, designed with your unique definition of the cloud in mind.

For more information on our discovery assessments, contact our infrastructure and cloud team today.

Inspiration for the article was drawn from here: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/how-to-do-cloud-the-right-way-2001.html