Building what works best

Cloud has changed the world of IT. Services now can be procured anywhere, anytime, on demand and with transparency of costs. More and more organizations prefer cloud, because it becomes increasingly difficult for the internal organization to compete with the scale, agility and the speed of innovation of specialized cloud vendors. In the first blog of this series we introduced the cloud transition journey that most organizations are going through. In blog 2 we zoomed in on overcoming the challenges organizations face when getting started with the cloud.

Establish the strategy

The next phase of the cloud transition journey is all about defining the cloud strategy based on personalizing the possibilities cloud has to offer, but also addressing the existing landscape and the specific challenges that brings. And that is what this blog is about. 

The CIOs we interviewed described different ways of increasing adoption of cloud—which makes sense, given all the different types of cloud implementation. However, the consensus seems to be a cloud-first approach that firmly rejects any future on-premise solutions. “If there is a new requirement, we search for cloud solution first”, is one of the reactions we got. However, this is only the solution for new requirements. For existing applications a solid strategy needs to be made considering different options as retiring, replacing or replatforming.

CIOs recognize the need to base their cloud transition on a solid approach and path —which is a good thing, since moving to the cloud is not just an IT project but also a business transformation. However, in frequent cases, even if the high level cloud strategy has been defined and various parts of the organization have started to use cloud services, a consolidated approach towards successfully executing the full cloud strategy is lacking. 

An example of this is that in many organizations, individuals (in business or IT) are looking for a quick fix and buy a cloud solution, often without alignment with the cloud strategy and even on their own name. This will help them on the short term, but on the long term the organizations’ data will be scattered and the organization has no control over the security and compliance and it will not profit from the cost advantage cloud has to offer. 

Execute the strategy

A proper execution of a cloud strategy is only possible if it is based on the common goals of both IT and business. After defining the shared needs, organizations can start mobilizing organizational capabilities that will eventually enable cloud adoption and scaling. 

The next step would be to assess the key enabling capabilities for a successful transition to the cloud, to gain insight in an organizations current position within the cloud journey. Which part of each IT landscape is already in the cloud and which is still on premise? And, what would be the optimum mix of cloud and on premise solutions for this capability? The results of the assessment will be used to draft a plan for the implementation of quick wins and medium to long term initiatives for each capability. 

One of the most important things this assessment will make clear is that a cloud first strategy has a big impact on the IT infrastructure operating model. Only with a structured approach organizations can stay in control in this journey and accelerate their cloud adoption. In our next blog we will discuss the next phase of the cloud transition journey: innovate and optimize. How to continuously refine cloud capabilities for strategic impact? 

More information

With our cloud-migration services, Deloitte is helping large corporations to navigate their cloud transition journeys. We understand not only the technological challenges that organizations face but also the implications for finance, regulatory compliance, line of business and more. 

Want to know more? Please contact us via the contact details below.