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Writer's pictureSofa Summits

Cloud Transformation - Uncomfortable, but… Necessary


Enterprises, regardless of size, location or industry, are all undergoing cloud transformation processes in order to keep up with the modern business world. At this point, it has become necessary for better customer management, service delivery and for handling various business operations. The main question we are asking is…are you keeping up?


This article will give an overview of the benefits of cloud transformation, as well as 5 essential tricks and tips to help “smoothen” the necessary disruption.


WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?


What does cloud transformation encompass exactly? Generally speaking, cloud transformation entails the migrating of your business from in-house servers to the cloud, a process that can be scaled according to every business need.


Cloud transformation isn’t the hottest tech trend in recent years. As early as 2012, Forrester found that 52% of enterprise decision-makers believed developing a cloud strategy was a “high or critical priority.”



DOES CLOUD COMPUTING DRIVE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION? MAIN BENEFITS TO FOCUS ON.


Cloud has slowly but surely become the driving force of digital transformation today; rapid growth in cloud infrastructure spending represents a growing fraction of the global $2.4 trillion market for enterprise IT services. However, harnessing its power can turn out to be a challenging journey. Keeping a bigger picture in mind, looking at the end-results and focusing on the main advantages of the transformation will just get you there easier. Let’s take a look at 4 of these advantages.


Increased Productivity


The cloud provides you with multiple, new resources, applications and tools, whilst enabling data security. AWS states that cloud migration enables a 30-50% increase in productivity.


Agility


It is a must in all business environments. More than a purpose, it should be regarded as a mindset, the ability to respond quickly and effectively to challenges, altering market demands or changes in government policies. And cloud is just the pal for that, enabling optimal responsiveness and customising valuable solutions to the issues at hand.


Cost Reduction


Enterprises should keep in mind the option of autoscaling, one of the most efficient ways of optimising the cloud. It enables you to scale up when needed and scale down when the need is over, leading to cost savings.


A local server demands regular maintenance costs, whilst there is no such maintenance requirement when it comes to cloud.


Data Security


Security is perhaps one of the biggest considerations in deciding to shift to cloud. Despite this being considered as a disadvantage due to an open environment, good cloud providers have solutions for keeping unwanted traffic outside the premises, keeping data from vulnerable attacks, password protection and more.



CAN YOU MAKE THE PROCESS QUICKER?


There is no magic formula that will get you from point A to point B when it comes to the cloud transformation processes. Nevertheless, there are a few elements that will ease the transition and reduce risks, if handled correctly.


Governance Plan


The cloud enables you to dynamically provision infrastructure workloads and services. To ensure these are maintained efficiently, you can introduce comprehensive strategies that define how, when, where, and what is provisioned: organising, defining & applying, auditing, enforcing policies and constant monitoring.


Multi-Cloud Strategy


A multi-cloud strategy enables enterprises to leverage cloud resources of more than one vendor, providing extended control and ownership over their resources. Furthermore, it can also help protect a company's sensitive business applications and data by offering redundant backup and recovery capabilities and ensuring business continuity in the case of an emergency.


Team Compliance


Once all the technical elements of a cloud transformation are in place, ensure that employees are prepared for the change is a fundamental step. Conclusive trainings must be organised around the migration to make sure that businesses combat any company culture clashes early on. Organisations then need to discuss said changes with their employees both before and after the migration process.



Cloud transformation is not a defined process with a clear start and a clear ending, but an ongoing effort. Turning into a truly cloud-native enterprise requires a clear promotion of cloud literacy throughout your teams, regardless of hierarchy. This transition also entiles keeping up to date with technology trends, so you can adapt and implement new technology as customer needs change, as well as preferences.



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