Johannesburg, 07 Jun 2016
Cloud has changed the delivery of technologies. The old days are gone - embarking on a cloud journey isn't just a means of doing the same things more efficiently; it's an opportunity to vastly improve IT services, and deliver them in real-time to your organisation.
So says Richard Vester, Director of Cloud Services at EOH, adding the IT community isn't harnessing the full strategic value of the cloud. "Too many businesses look at cloud as merely another technology, and are leaving all the decisions around its adoption and management up to IT. It's not a technical decision, it's a strategic one. IT needs to be involved for sure, but failure to treat the cloud as a strategic differentiator will see the strategy failing."
He says while all cloud providers have the infrastructure, not many are able to help their clients to use the cloud strategically. "Having the right service provider will ensure the company can fulfil their business directives and policies easily and safely onto their assortment of IT solutions, and across physical borders."
He says this is why choosing the right cloud provider is so crucial. "As with any new technology that aims at creating an opportunity, or solving a problem, a cloud provider will be able to guide the technology choices once the requirements have been clearly established. CIO-level involvement is vital here, to make sure the technology lines up with the business strategy."
The provider needs to be able to manage several different clouds, and having a strategy for how and where cloud will be implemented is vital to ensure the platform meets the anticipated workload, to avoid lock-in, and for the business to be able to retrieve its data in a suitable format, as and when it needs it.
"There are also issues of data residency to be considered. Where the data will be housed, and whether its handling and storage meets compliance and safety regulations. Then, of course, there's the matter of security. A good provider will have all these bases covered," says Vester.
He says to ask a potential provider whether your system's administrators are able to access corporate strategy around various locations, and their specific security and privacy requirements, as well as other regulatory concerns.
"Make sure role-based security is a factor. Even though your architects are able to handle security decisions for team access to a cloud management platform, they are not necessarily the correct people to determine how customers and third party partners are able to access the businesses' cloud. In addition, make sure virtual security tools are incorporated. Think about scalability, and make sure any cloud investments integrate with operations platforms."
The CIO needs to consider all these factors, and having the right cloud partner will enable him or her to really look at how the organisation delivers IT services and how these integrate with the company at the function and end-user customer level. It is important to understand how to deliver in real-time if you still work through an old-school helpdesk process, for example, or if billing hasn't been integrated, causing complications within IT groups, Vester explains.
"Cloud is aimed at simplifying processes, and helping the business to deliver services faster and more efficiently. However, it must not be treated like just another tech purchase. Cloud needs to be an active participant in whatever the business does, and how it makes its money. It must be built around an operational model to support that business."
Ensure you have alignment in your company and in your IT solutions to gain the maximum value from your IT. Cloud is not a technology, it's a strategic differentiator, he concludes.
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