eludes many of our clients . We spend a good part of the CAP Workshops discussing , debating and arguing the merits and benefits of cloud adoption . Without knowing why you are moving to the cloud , a Cloud First strategy simply falls apart . Team members head off in different and conflicting directions with no idea how their behavior is affecting others .
Making a commitment to putting workloads in the cloud is a no-brainer , yet it is often overlooked .
Cloud First means that all of your applications and data will move to the cloud unless there is a compelling reason that they must remain on-premise . Without a Cloud First strategy , you are simply keeping your application and data teams with one foot on first base while asking them to try and steal second . When this happens , the results are marginal at best since there is no focused dedication to making the changes necessary to reap the full benefits of cloud .
On the surface , Cloud First appears to be an aggressive stance . However , without a Cloud First strategy you simply will not be able to dedicate the appropriate resources to fully establish the organizational change necessary to make a measurable difference . Consider all the attendees needed for a CAP Workshop . Cloud adoption will affect nearly every aspect of your organization . Therefore , it is more of a strategic direction and leadership initiative as opposed to a technology decision .
Cloud First also requires assigning dedicated teams and making a decision to properly fund your cloud program . This means team members will only work on cloud-related activities and their entire focus will be on getting the enterprise to the cloud securely - not just kicking the tires with a proof-of-concept or pilot . A cloud team whose members still have their day jobs is a sure indication that :
• There is not a full commitment to cloud .
• The effort required is misunderstood .
• There is a lack of executive sponsorship .
When an organization truly understands the benefits of cloud and their Cloud First strategy -- and there are many such organizations ( CapitalOne being a great example ) -- the sponsor can create a proposal so compelling that no CEO could ignore it .
# 3 - Establish a Cloud Business Office
Cloud adoption will have an enormous impact on your company , evolving processes that have not been seriously touched in decades . For the first time , developers are able to create and modify their infrastructure requirements using software . The implications of such power are both dazzling and frightening .
56 | THE DOPPLER | SUMMER 2016