What are the typical drivers for cloud adoption? Any tips for how to draft a business justification for migration to cloud?
Sort By:
Oldest
VP IT3 months ago
Thank you, Raimundo!
IT Director in Healthcare and Biotech4 months ago
There are multiple drivers for Cloud Adoption. They vary from company to company and from industry to industry. * Cost Reduction: While this is a very common reason for companies to adopt the public cloud, be careful as this does not always materialize, specially because it is almost impossible to compare on-prem cost models with public cloud ones. There is also the advantage of the public cloud of eliminating the need for upfront capital expenditure on hardware and software. In my experience, cloud cost management requires very careful planning and execution to achieve reductions, including establishing FinOps teams, practices and tools and training your teams on switching off unused resources (including weekends, nights, etc.).
* Elasticity: if you have environments that change a lot and/or require scaling up and down due to business needs this could be an important driver. The ability of the public cloud to fluctuate is very difficult to achieve on-prem and, to a large extent, impossible to match.
* Improved Security: cloud providers invest heavily in security measures to protect their data centers. Additionally, cloud services often offer advanced security features that may be beyond the reach of smaller businesses.
* Enhanced Collaboration: not only within your company but with other companies and institutions.
* Access to Innovation: Cloud platforms provide access to cutting-edge technologies and tools that may not be readily available on-premises e.g. latest GPUs. They also support the adoption a "buy over build" approach by the consumption of services that are not only developed but also run by the hyperscalers.
Regarding the second part of the question, some tips for drafting a business justification to migrate to the cloud:
* Identify the business need: define the specific business problems you're trying to solve by migrating to the cloud. This should not be a technology driven decision but business driven and will require strong buy-in from the business. Keep also in mind what is your starting point, depending on the size and complexity of your on-prem landscape, a cloud migration might take years and will consume lots of your resources unless you "lift and shift" your applications which will prevent your company from really leveraging all the advantages mentioned above.
*Align with the business strategy: the cloud adoption must align with the overall business strategy and goals.
* Get stakeholder buy-in: Identify key stakeholders who need to be involved in the decision-making process. Tailor your justification document to address their specific concerns and priorities.
* Estimate the benefits: calculate the potential cost savings, increased efficiency and other benefits expected. Use business relevant metrics and data to support them.
* Consider the risks and challenges: Acknowledge any potential risks associated with cloud migration, such as vendor lock-in or security concerns. In particular, adapt your strategy to your industry keeping an eye on compliance requirements for data residency or other limitations.
* Acknowledge that there is no "one size fits all approach": the cloud adoption plan can vary not only from company to company but from department to department or even from application to application
VP IT3 months ago
Very useful! Thank you
CEO in Services (non-Government)3 months ago
Really useful thanks !
Director, Information Technology, Enterprise Services & Value Management in Energy and Utilities3 months ago
As I am in between a large scale migration, in my view cost is not an advantage for run and maintain. However when you consider a larger scheme of things such as HW refresh, EOL remediation, it turns the table. Having said that, security, technology enablement and not having to worry about HW failures, maintenance contracts, DC operation is the key advantage.
Business case/justification may show comparative TCO over 5 years of cloud vs on-prem, pros and cons, customer value and user experience, successful case studies of cloud adoption by competitors in the same space, etc.