Moving to the cloud is not a one step journey but needs to be part of a wider business-focused strategy which puts data at the heart of decision making.
Technology research specialist IDC has put together an assessment tool to help organisations gauge the state of their multi-cloud and data readiness and what steps they need to take to get the most out of their data. The tool is built on independent research and should take less than ten minutes to complete.
In return you will receive a tailor-made report assessing the readiness of your organisation’s cloud strategy and what steps you need to take next.
To take the Cloud Strategy Assessment, just click here
The assessment considers the key drivers which are pushing your cloud strategy. Beyond cost savings are you reacting to competitive threats, looking for revenue from data-driven new business or seeking to radically overhaul costs by automating parts of your IT infrastructure?
Despite vendors promises there are challenges to any successful cloud migration. Considering which of these is most important can help further focus your strategy. So IDC recommends considering the role of budgets, and how easy they are to secure, and the state of buy-in from the rest of the business. How important is it to reassess and potential modernize key business applications rather than just lift and shift them to a new platform? How skills ready is your team and is there significant technical debt to deal with?
To get the most from any move companies also need to consider how far they are willing and able to adapt a DevOps culture and processes and what is required to achieve this. For true success this needs to run deeper than just the IT department and be embraced, at least to some extent, across the whole business.
IDC analysts suggest business decision makers try and look two or three years into the future and weigh the importance of different strategic directions. These will vary depending on your organisation but could include automating data exchange with your own systems, improving IT efficiency, creating new digitally powered revenue streams or moving to wider implementation of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The full assessment quiz is available here and provides a fast focus to cloud strategic thinking.
To read more on How to Plan your Cloud Transformation Roadmap, click here
