What they don’t tell you about cloud deployments

Start smaller with non mission-critical systems or smaller initiatives, racking up easy cloud “wins” gain precious cloud experience and management goodwill.

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What they don’t tell you about cloud deployments

Organisations are moving to the cloud faster than ever, and this is pushing worldwide public cloud services market togrow by more than 20¹ percent this year to US$186.4 billion, according to analyst firm Gartner.

Increasingly, this includes utilising more than one² infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform or cloud service as businesses seek the best cloud-based services to support their enterprise demands. But while there is no doubting the many benefits inherent to cloud deployments, the cloud is not without its share of potential pitfalls.

Mind the skills gap

For a start, enterprises must realise that basic technical expertise does not necessarily correlate with competency across various cloud platforms. Just like how the IT technician or help desk personnel may not have the ability to develop the new enterprise resource program (ERP) software, a system administrator new to cloud infrastructure may similarly be unqualified to maintain a multi-cloud deployment.

Indeed, a recent blog³ by Deloitte noted that most enterprises moving to the cloud simply don’t have the requisite in-house expertise to maintain cloud-based systems, or lack employees with the adequate cloud skills to make things work in the cloud. Considering how the right skillset can mean the difference between success and failure, this means that organisations must take the time to identify and rectify gaps in their cloud expertise to succeed.

Aside from skillsets that pertain to specific cloud platforms, the cloud has also resulted in an explosion of cloud-centric domain expertise that includes cloud security, governance of cloud assets, and managing complex cloud architecture – among others. The huge breadth of disciplines mean that it can take weeks or months of concerted effort to close any existing skills gap.

Not rushing to the cloud

If anything, the dearth of cloud expertise does mean that a slower approach to the cloud may be necessary. While cloud providers would have enterprises believe that the cloud is an all or nothing proposition, this cannot be further from the truth. As with other IT projects, the ideal approach would be to start smaller with non mission-critical systems or smaller initiatives, racking up easy cloud “wins” gain precious cloud experience and management goodwill.

Rather than being enamoured with the notion of going cloud and rushing headlong into an ill-prepared deployment, enterprises should begin their cloud journey by first identifying the objectives and benefits that they hope to gain with their cloud deployment. Important milestones needed to realise this vision should also be established to track progress.

Where a system migration to the cloud is desired, this should be accompanied by a detailed migration plan that includes researching of the most suitable cloud environment, pilot deployments, the actual migration, and post-migration testing and optimisation. In a nutshell, any move to the cloud should not be a hasty affair but be fastidiously planned and executed.

The cost of cloud

One often-touted premise of the cloud is the sheer savings stemming from a move to the cloud. While there it is undoubtedly true that a switch from capital expenditure (CAPEX) to operational expenditure (OPEX) model can often result in some form of savings, the long-term cost of running in the cloud is very much dependent on the types of workload as well as their performance characteristics.

Indeed, some enterprises with specific performance profiles have found on-premises deployments to be the most cost-effective option for their needs. For instance, Adobe had brought the Demand Side Platform (DSP)‎ component of its Advertising Cloud back into its own data centres after citing unresolved cost and performance considerations⁴ . Elsewhere, financial information that was made available recently had pegged Dropbox’s move from the cloud to colocation facilities to a staggering savings of US$75⁵
million.

Of course, what works for one organisation may not work for another. Regardless, it is crucial that enterprises begin with the understanding that the cloud isn’t necessarily cheaper, and the onus that is for them to do their own sums to find the most cost-effective option. This could be a pure or multi-cloud approach or entail the use of a mixed hybrid cloud deployment that blends on-premises locations with the cloud.

¹ Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Public Cloud Revenue to Grow 21.4 Percent in 2018, April 12, 2018

² Multi-Cloud Strategies Are A Growing Priority For Tech Companies, June 7 2018

³ Dealing with the cloud computing skills gap, July 24 2018

⁴ OpenStack Sydney: Drawing down the cloud, November 14 2017

⁵ Dropbox Saved $75 Million Moving from Public Cloud to Colocation Data Centers, March 6 2018

Contact us to learn more about Singtel’s data centres and our services.

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