The Doppler Quarterly Winter 2019 | Page 81

Vendor lock-in is only one factor to consider when making choices about technology strategy and architecture. For the reasons described above, emphasizing the vendor lock-in risk beyond its rightful place will warp the deci- sion-making process, leading to the loss of agility, opera- tional efficiency and competitive advantage. Remember the following: • Migrating workloads and data from one public cloud to another will take effort, depending on which and how many native services the workload leverages, but it is generally far easier to move the workload from one public cloud to another public cloud than the modernization you went through when you migrated it from your own data center. • Betting big on a single platform enables you to nego- tiate the best deal. Since platform discounts (not to mention incentives to help pay for your migration) depends on how much funding you are willing to commit to the cloud platform vendor. Going big with one vendor can help you maximize your leverage in the negotiation. • Cloud transformation is not for the faint of heart. It represents a dramatic change to the way you do things. A better way, for sure, but very different. This means people need to change and that can represent a massive challenge to large, complex IT organiza- tions who are already challenged to "keep the lights on." Please do not underestimate the added complex- ity of managing different public cloud operating envi- ronments within an organizational change context. • Unique and differentiating capabilities and features are among the primary reasons to choose a vendor. Ignoring those features simply to avoid vendor lock-in reduces the compelling value of moving to the public cloud in the first place. Bottom line: Don’t be paralyzed by fear of vendor lock-in. Armed with a clear-eyed view of the actual risks — and even benefits — of vendor lock-in, enterprises can make better choices. After all, that's the reason you're reading this article, right? WINTER 2019 | THE DOPPLER | 79