Is Your Enterprise’s Cloud Computing Strategy Working?

Businesses are eager to adopt a cloud computing solution into their infrastructure, but they may not understand how exactly to do it. Adopting the cloud into your infrastructure is not as simple as it sounds. Introducing cloud computing to your business requires not just finding the proper cloud environment, You also need to design a successful cloud strategy that compliments your business and keeps your cloud operations productive and efficient.

A rewarding cloud strategy takes into account several factors and strives to match your business needs while also optimizing cloud operations. Creating a cloud strategy and keeping your workers up to speed on it is an essential part of managing your cloud environment. How do you know if your enterprise’s cloud computing strategy is working, though? Below, we’ve listed a handful of tips for evaluating the success of a business cloud strategy.

Understand what you want to accomplish in the cloud

First, your company should have an idea of what you want to accomplish with your cloud solutions. Whether you are fully switching to a public cloud infrastructure or only integrating a few cloud-based solutions, your company should have some business-related motivation for adopting the cloud. This motivation is the backbone of any enterprise cloud strategy, as it helps you determine why integrating the cloud solution is necessary in the first place. Before you make the jump into the cloud, outline the tasks and workflows you want to apply a cloud solution to. That way, your enterprise has an end-goal in mind that they can work towards as they fully implement their cloud deployment.

Keep your other IT deployments in mind

When you implement a cloud computing solution, you need to consider every other IT solution your business already has in place. Just like any business technology, a cloud deployment needs to properly intersect with the rest of your infrastructure. If you move data between a cloud and on-premise deployment, for example, you need to ensure compatibility between the two environments.

Prioritize your cloud strategy

If your company has been working with your cloud solutions for a while, you should have a firm idea of what tasks work best in the cloud and what don’t. An enterprise should prioritize keeping efficient cloud workflows while considering alternative for applications where the cloud isn’t needed. Likewise, if you already have a tech solution in place for a business-critical task, you need to consider whether the cloud solution is a better fit.

Update your cloud strategy when necessary

The worst thing your business can do is design a cloud strategy, then leave it unchanged as they get more comfortable with their cloud deployment. Your cloud operations will probably be fairly light in the beginning as your business becomes acquainted with the cloud solutions you integrate. As you begin to understand how your cloud solutions works, your enterprise might discover potential applications for the solution. Your IT team should be aware of these applications and determine if your cloud strategy should be updated to include them. Additionally, you may have to update your strategy if you find that your cloud-related costs are exceeding your budget.

Our MSP Buyer’s Guide contains profiles on the top cloud MSP vendors for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask providers and yourself before buying. We also offer an MSP Vendor Map that outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.

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