Organizations that lack a high-level cloud strategy risk wasted investment and failure. With all its features and benefits, cloud computing also comes with multidimensional perks. The cloud computing paradigm has been driving innovation in almost all market sectors, contrary to the popular belief that cloud computing is just beneficial for computing applications. IT leaders must think ahead and prepare a Cloud strategy for their Organizations.
To fully use the Cloud computing arena, one needs to have a strong strategy in place – one that works for the business as a whole and one that works for the employees. There are some brilliant options and great support services, but which one to choose? And what investment to make?
We look at some cloud computing strategies leaders should consider while building from the bottom up.
4 Things to Consider for Building an Effective Cloud Strategy for Your Company
1. Private cloud or public cloud or hybrid: A very confusing but one of the most important decisions a leader has to choose the Cloud he would like to deploy. A Private cloud is more secure and robust but costs more. A Public cloud is lean and relatively cost-less but comes with security concerns. A Hybrid cloud needs expert developers and careful deployment planning, which increases operating costs. Careful consideration should be taken while selecting the cloud, and the pros and cons should be weighed against each other.
2. Value your options and choose: Cloud computing was first adopted by small and medium-sized companies for simple and low-cost solutions because their needs dictated that. Many large organizations are adopting cloud computing for cost-cutting and speed-to-market benefits. They view clouds primarily as an enabler of process improvement and a means of reducing costs in specific pockets across IT. You need to see where you fit and what the purpose of the shift is. Do you need it for IT support, or do you want to induce the BYOD paradigm in your workspace? Your choice depends on your bandwidth needs. Ultimately, choosing a Cloud computing platform is all about dealing with trade-offs.
3. Plan your budget: If you have decided on what fits your needs, you need to choose your IT support backbone next. There would be minimal investment in the storage hardware, but you might have to invest in hiring the proper workforce for Cloud development.
4. Technology: After you have locked in your needs and the budget available for it, look at the best technology stack available for the task in the money you have allocated for the shift to cloud computing. Remember your Go-to-market strategy; choose from among many of the Cloud service providers in the market today. A lot of them provide additional features like social media integration and higher security measures, which are valuable to you, so choose wisely.
Disaster Recovery, Backup, Scalability, Resilience, High Availability, and other capabilities of the Cloud have helped create an interesting solution set for Organizations to choose from. The power of the cloud lies in its versatility and flexibility. With more resources available to the average user on demand and without locking up its CapEx, Cloud computing can deliver more content faster and to more devices. There are many ways to utilize the cloud, and each can have its considerations and best practices. Aligning those best practices with your business goals is the key strategy that should be followed.
[Read Next: 5 Essential Checkpoints To Simplify Hybrid Cloud Adoption ]
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