Upgrading to the cloud is supposed to help your business to be simpler, cheaper and more secure. However, if you aren’t careful you can end up creating uneccessary and costly complexity. Obviously each business comes with its own situation and it’s own advantages and challenges. However there are several points which it is best for everyone to consider before they start changing their IT system.
Here’s our pick of the best advice:
Roadmap, roadmap, roadmap
This might sound too obvious to mention, but it’s vitally important not to get carried away by enthusiasm for the benefits offered by the cloud and jump in before you’ve got a solid plan. Make sure you have a solid roadmap of where you want the cloud to get you, and how you hope to reach that goal. Having a management team that both supports and understands this goal is really important.
Consider your security
With the changes that come from migrating to the cloud you need to make extra sure that your security and potentially the security of your customers remains sacrosanct. Make sure you plan to review any security considerations that may arise before you have to deal with actual problems.
Review the status of your apps
Some apps are ready to plug in and go, others may need re-tooling to fit the bill. It’s important to check the status of each of the apps you hope to run at the beginning so you don’t run into snags later.
Simplify product portfolio
According to BCG, 20% of a company’s portfolio typically accounts for 80% of the profit-making activity. Therefore, by offloading products and services which do not produce significant profits could be a good idea. Firstly, your business’s profitability will improve, but from the perspective of IT, you can remove some of the complexity of your IT organization.
Collaboration tools and techniques
Migration to the cloud isn’t just a new way of storing your information, it offers a new way of working. While in the process of moving over to the cloud it’s important as a management to make sure that managers and IT leaders can work together. This may mean implementing a cross-functional team of managers and IT leaders. It might also mean using a blend of new agile software development tools alongside more traditional waterfall methodologies.
We hope you’ve found these suggestions helpful. If you have any comments or points to raise feel free to share them with through the comments section or on twitter
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