INTELLIGENT DATACENTRES
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• A comprehensive cloud strategy must lead to removal of silos between data,
applications, end-users, and not create new ones
• Any cloud strategy will need to recognise the need to work with the existing IT
environment and leverage its functioning
• A cloud initiation project is transformative and complex, ignoring this possibility
in the beginning may be the single most important reason leading to failure
down the line
• Every business is unique and a well thought-off cloud strategy will recognise
strengths that have been built across its business
• In some ways the cloud journey can be more transformative than an ERP
implementation and needs equal executive management attention
• If an organisation is serious about competing in the digital market place,
adopting cloud technologies is the best way to move forward
• There is no one-rule when it comes to which cloud solutions work best across
the organisation, across departments, across applications
• The cloud journey of an organisation is ideally built by both IT and business
• While components of the IT environment, such as systems, networks,
applications, security, may be managed by multiple vendors, there must be only
one cloud vendor
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Making a choice
There is no one-rule when it comes
to which cloud solutions work best across
the organisation, across departments and
across applications. Flexibility is the best
approach and an organisation may end
up with more than one cloud model as
the best-fit for a specific requirement. The
choice can include, private, hybrid, public,
on-site or hosted, multi-tenant or single
tenant configurations. The organisation’s
cloud journey must offer flexibility and the
ability to change going forward.
3
End to end
A comprehensive cloud strategy must
lead to removal of silos between data,
applications, end-users, and not create
new ones. Any options selected as part of
the cloud strategy and also with multiple
vendors, must be able to work with each
other or be interoperable with each other
as they get deployed. A good integration
approach is when the components can
be administered through a common
management dashboard and interface. A
testing groun d is when workloads can be
moved around between the various cloud
options and when each of them works
together in an effective hybrid fashion.
4
Co-existence
Bringing in a cloud strategy into the
organisation cannot be on the basis of
ignoring the existing IT infrastructure
already in place. Any cloud strategy will
need to recognise the need to work with
the existing IT environment and leverage
its functioning. This challenge may involve
finding the right technology partner
or vendor to make it possible. A cloud
strategy built on the basis of including the
existing IT environment and leveraging it
forward is heading in the right direction.
thought-off cloud strategy will recognise
strengths that have been built across its
business. The more successful a business
is, the more likely that its best practices
and procedures will be unique to itself
in some way. Building a cloud strategy
that assumes these would be disbanded
or replaced is heading in the direction of
failure. Again, selection of the right cloud
vendor or partner can go some distance in
ensuring this objective is met.
6
Responsibility
As a final pre-condition for the success
of any cloud journey is the responsibility
for making this happen end to end. A cloud
project will almost certainly involve every
aspect of the existing IT environment over
time. And while the components of the IT
environment, such as systems, networks,
applications, security, may be managed
by multiple vendors and partners, there
must be only one cloud vendor or partner
putting it all together.
As part of this role, the cloud vendor
would propose service level agreements
ensuring success and compliance for
the organisation across the entire cloud
environment. An understanding of these
factors and finding ways to work around
them will go a long way in ensuring success
of cloud transformation projects.
5
Market competitiveness
A cloud strategy is unlikely to succeed
if it is built on the assumption of moving
away from best practices that have been
incorporated into an organisation over the
years and replacing them with more vanilla
flavors. Every business is unique and a well
Sachin Bhardwaj is Director of Marketing and
Business Development at eHosting DataFort
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