Just as a winning rugby try is a 15-man effort, and not the triumph, responsibility or result of the talents of a sole player, the successful operation of a business is very much a team affair.
This rings especially true when your company decides to make that near-inevitable transition to cloud computing. Besides the proper scoping of technical, data and security requirements, and the consideration of costs, it’s vital that your whole organisation is engaged in your cloud migration game plan – from the C-suite, IT office, security team, to end-user staff.
Get All Stakeholders On Board Before Migrating To The Cloud
The first step: get everyone on the field to join the game. This, however, is easier said than done. Cloud migration and computing are widely considered as an IT department function. But delegating the move to the cloud to this department is equated to “putting the crew that ran the boiler and steam turbine in charge of electrifying a factory”*. It’s not a classic job for the IT geeks, and CEOs maintaining this position might soon be shown a yellow card.
What’s more, is that a good dose of uncertainty and scepticism often surrounds cloud computing.
A winning formula for getting all your stakeholders on board for the cloud computing journey is to: ensure that senior management are in accord; align the cloud adoption strategy with business priorities and goals; understand how this process will affect your individual departments’ budgets and responsibilities; clearly define your IT department and security team’s roles; and prepare your employees for day-to-day operational and work environment changes.
After all, cloud adoption is a complex process that affects a multitude of areas across an organisation, making it very much everybody’s business.
Then, start identifying the various departments’ cloud computing needs: who needs access to what information; what customer support service does the department envisage? For example, your marketing department needs to be able to:
- reach a large audience, e.g. through mobile, online or database marketing
- have a vast selection of actionable, real-time data at their fingertips
- swiftly respond to market needs
- track leads and try out novel channels
- hone in on target audiences, and
- create inspired campaigns
Ideally, the cloud solution that gets your company’s vote, should provide answers for such individual business unit must-haves.
A full-picture view of such needs will not only give you a clearer picture of security requirements, but also guide your cloud services provider on what the best solution for your company will be.
Next on your cloud assessment checklist is to make certain the security team is fully informed right from the start, aligned with business goals, and enjoys easy access to the C-suite. This should speed up their turnaround time dramatically.
Finally, get your employees on YOUR side. To avoid resistance, ensure a happy, stable staff complement and instill enthusiasm: train your staff in advance; apply change management where necessary; and focus their attention on the cloud’s benefits, such as collaboration possibilities.
One cloud migration challenge is that it’s a “living process”, the adoption of an emerging technology, which often demands managerial interventions – hence the recommendation that senior management stay hands-on. Guidelines and criteria that could assist companies in understanding their cloud requirements better also appear to be lacking.
That’s why your best bet is to consult and rely on an expert team who understands the pros and cons of cloud computing. At Evolv Networks, we guarantee that your company’s final cloud computing score will be something to cheer about.
*Source directly quoted from https://hbr.org/2011/11/what-every-ceo-needs-to-know-about-the-cloud
