Going All-In on Cloud Computing: What’s Next?
COVID-19 served as a powerful reminder of the importance of systems resilience, agility, adaptability, and scalability for organizations across industries. The need for flexible computing power, disaster recovery, resilient business processes, and business agility are some factors that accelerated cloud adoption in the last year.
A recent Gartner study forecasts spending on public cloud services will reach $396 billion in 2021 and grow over 20% in 2022. It’s evident that we’re way past the point of return or hesitation — the time to migrate to the cloud is now.
For those enterprises choosing to go all-in on the cloud, what’s next?
Migrating to the cloud
Cloud migration is a critical first step to maximizing the value of the cloud. Companies wishing to move from outdated legacy infrastructures or inefficient software solutions are now turning to the cloud to get greater flexibility, more agility, and new opportunities for innovation. Unsurprisingly, over 90% of today’s enterprises have adopted cloud in some form.
Most organizations’ applications need to be hosted in some sort of cloud; for many, that means working with a hyperscaler. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, hyperscalers essentially provide cloud, networking, and internet services at scale by offering organizations access to infrastructure. Popular hyperscalers include Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
For businesses in this stage of cloud adoption, it’s imperative to note that migration is more than a technology initiative and needs to be rooted in business outcomes. Understanding the business value of cloud migration, choosing what, when, and where to move to the cloud, and actually doing it are not easy tasks. More than an idea, businesses need a plan—and often a partner—to assist with execution. A rushed migration can become expensive, leaving existing legacy applications racking up costs.
Accelerating cloud's potential
Migrating to the cloud does not necessarily make you cloud-first. To do that, you need to build applications specifically for a cloud environment and your industry. You need to modernize.
How do you know if you’re in this stage of cloud adoption? If your organization is experiencing any of these issues, it may be time to start a modernization plan:
- You spend just as much or more in the cloud as you did on-premise
- Applications aren’t scaling fast enough to meet peak demand
- Competitors are catching up or growing faster than you are
- Performance, reliability, and/or security continue to be challenges
We recommend adopting a culture of continual modernization. Applications may go through various modernization projects over time, based on technical opportunities, business needs, and customer requests. Continuously evaluating your cloud applications, infrastructure, and services will help you optimize them to achieve your evolving business goals.
Innovating in and with the cloud
A recent PwC study shows 74% of business leaders today have a cloud strategy in place and see it as a platform for innovation. That’s because, more than better IT infrastructure, the cloud offers a gateway to the future. At its best, the cloud combines everything businesses need to innovate—data, people, processes, and technology—on one streamlined ecosystem.
The flexibility of the cloud gives businesses the freedom to build new environments instantly, try several ideas simultaneously, and see what’s working quickly and securely. Cloud adoption also facilitates creative collaboration in and out of the organization. It enables staff to work together remotely and more effectively and create better connections with partners and suppliers. In a broader sense, the cloud is the ideal platform for rethinking how the organization operates. A cloud journey can expose inefficiencies and siloed working methods, enabling the business to refocus on the value it provides its customers.
For enterprises contemplating this stage of cloud adoption, we highly suggest the following:
- Lead with purpose. Know where you’re headed with cloud adoption and why.
- Work in phases. Establish a plan and pace yourself to ensure proper execution.
- Leverage hyperscalers. They already invest heavily in innovation!
There’s more than one way to the cloud
One size does not fit all when it comes to cloud adoption. Establishing the proper frameworks and choosing the right digital transformation partner will allow you to optimize and maximize the value of the cloud. Identify where the impact will be derived fastest across the business through new capabilities, cost efficiencies, or risk mitigation. Also, be sure to focus on your own organizational structure and business model, and consider how ways of working will change in the coming years.
No matter where you are in your cloud adoption journey, it’s vital you choose a partner that can deliver proven solutions while remaining agile and innovative. 10Pearls can guide you to the right cloud solution for your unique business needs and help you achieve value quickly. We have the DevOps experience necessary to build, deploy, and manage your critical systems, providing faster deployment, smoother releases and updates, and guaranteed uptime.
To learn more about our services and how we can help you become a cloud-first enterprise, contact us.
