Five Simple Rules for Moving to Cloud Computing
Anna Gong
11/07/2011

Over the last 18 months, the IT industry has been talking about cloud computing. Now, most IT organizations are experimenting with cloud in one form or another. Here are five simple guidelines to help keep your feet planted firmly on the ground as you get started with cloud:

1) Design IT as a supply chain
Think of IT as a supply chain that’s focused on delivering service: you’ll source some applications from your internal IT systems and others from external service providers. Much like a car factory that uses multiple suppliers, you should alter that balance based on your business requirements. Although deceivably simple, this approach will help to change the way the IT organization thinks and acts and how other departments perceive IT. Supply chain thinking allows you to both buy and build. A good rule of thumb in setting your IT supply chain strategy is the “lean” mantra: Only do what adds value to your customers and remove any steps/activities/processes that don’t add value or aren’t legally required.

2) Use a portfolio approach for deciding what to move to the cloud
Implementing cloud is as much about ‘what to do’ as ‘how to do it.’ Treat decisions about what to move to the cloud as an IT portfolio planning exercise. Begin with the strategic goals of your organization in mind, which may vary from becoming customer-focused to launching products in emerging markets to reducing costs. Next, match the goals to business or market constraints (e.g.: legislation, resources, geography or financial requirements). Then, map the goals and constraints to existing IT services and your cloud-based opportunities. A portfolio approach helps you identify which services could be moved to the cloud and deliver cost savings and agility to the business, helping you pick the “low-hanging fruit” that makes the most sense in the cloud.

Use this as a method for continuous evaluation and improvement; IT portfolio planning is not a one-off exercise.

3) Make service costing a core competency
Most organizations are looking to gain cost efficiencies with cloud computing, more than just moving capital expenditures to operational expenditures. Whether a service is provided in-house, composed of sourced components, or delivered completely as a service, it is essential to understand the exact cost characteristics of each service (not just the IT functions) and the impact on the overall cost of doing business. This helps IT prepare itself for business-level conversations: can they deliver services at an optimal cost, and if not, can they suggest a viable alternative? Increasing transparency in the cost of IT services will give you insight into areas to cost optimize, but also drive useful discussions about accountability, agility, availability, and security.

4) Treat security as a service
Security concerns are consistently cited as a barrier to cloud computing. The cloud model requires an organization to dynamically control access of a variety of users across a changing portfolio of applications running internally and externally from multiple suppliers. This prompts companies to rethink their approach to security. You cannot deny access to everyone; rather, you must let the right people access the specific data they need – and no more. IT must now actively control the use of services to prevent any out-of-the-ordinary activities.

5) Start with an exit strategy
By having to rely on external providers, the threat of vendor lock-in is real. The impact of a breakdown or contract termination of externally provided services is much more immediate to the business. Having a “Plan B” – one that enables you to switch suppliers within a reasonable timeframe – should be part of how you architect your cloud services and your contracts. Standards are emerging in this area, but in the meantime, automation capabilities of vendor-neutral management tools can help enable such cost-conscious exit strategies.

How fast?
The appropriate speed for jumping into cloud computing depends on the culture and current state of your organization. Realistically, you aren’t going to be in the cloud tomorrow. Pushing the accelerator hard might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but using these five simple guidelines to adopt the cloud at a comfortable pace for your organization will ensure you do not get left behind.

- Anna Gong, Vice President, Cloud, Virtualization and Service Automation, Asia Pacific, CA Technologies.
 

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