Is Your Cloud-first Strategy Evolving in the Right Direction?

Cloud computing is now an integral part of business. In recent years, many companies have migrated to public cloud platforms, seeking flexibility, scalability, and cost savings. However, this migration is just the beginning of an organisation’s cloud journey. To fully harness the cloud’s benefits, understanding and regularly evaluating the maturity of your cloud strategy is essential.

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Different Stages of Cloud Maturity

If you’ve embraced the cloud, you’ll probably find yourself in one of these phases:

1.  Ad-hoc Implementation

A recent implementation without an overarching strategy, often after a specific department’s pilot. While this marks an exciting step forward, it can lead to fragmentation and inefficiencies if not integrated into a broader cloud strategy.

2. Expansion Phase

After laying the groundwork with cloud migrations and some successful implementations, the focus shifts to expanding cloud use to more processes and apps. Investments in employee training and internal expertise become key. This phase can greatly enhance your organisation’s capabilities, but careful planning is necessary to ensure cohesion.

3. Streamlined Cloud Strategy

A structured cloud strategy is in place, executing integrated implementations with standards and governance. This phase brings order to your cloud initiatives, reducing complexity and enhancing overall efficiency.

4. Optimisation Phase

Focus on process improvement, cost management, and achieving higher security standards. As your cloud environment grows, optimising resource usage and fine-tuning processes become paramount for sustained cost savings and security.

5. Innovation Phase

The cloud becomes a platform for new ideas and business models, driving competitive advantage and growth. Embracing innovation while maintaining security and stability requires a delicate balance.

6. Highest Maturity Phase

Cloud technology is fully integrated into all processes, with a solid strategy, optimised processes, and extensive security standards. The cloud propels ongoing innovation, creating opportunities to stay ahead of competitors and foster growth.

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Challenges of cloud maturity

Reaching high cloud maturity can be difficult. Many organisations struggle with developing a structured strategy and seamlessly integrating cloud processes into their existing IT environment. In an ad-hoc implementation scenario, the freedom of working outside established infrastructure can often drown out the need for a cohesive strategy, resulting in disjointed efforts that hinder long-term optimisation.

Managing costs and optimising cloud infrastructure is another challenge. While the cloud offers flexibility, unmanaged resources can lead to unexpected costs. Without proper oversight, companies might overlook idle or underutilised resources that accumulate charges. Effective cost management practices, including regular resource assessment and utilisation tracking, are essential to ensuring cost efficiency as your cloud environment grows.

Security is also crucial when embracing cloud technologies. In the realm of digital security, continuous vigilance is required against increasingly frequent and impactful cyber attacks. As organisations progress through the cloud maturity phases, security concerns evolve as well. Ensuring data security and regulatory compliance can be daunting. Organisations must formulate a well-defined plan for handling sensitive information, implementing robust access controls, encryption mechanisms, and staying updated on the latest developments for their chosen cloud platform.

Onto your next phase

Our Cloud Best Practice Assessment offers a comprehensive, vendor-independent analysis of your cloud environment against best practices. We evaluate technical aspects, security, costs, and operational processes. Our findings will highlight areas your company should focus on, aspects needing further investigation, and improvement opportunities. Together, we can evolve your cloud strategy onto the next phase.

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As you navigate the challenges presented by cloud maturity, remember that a proactive and strategic approach is key. By addressing these challenges head-on, your company can make informed decisions that propel you toward higher cloud maturity and the subsequent benefits it offers. Elevating your cloud strategy to the next phase requires careful planning, dedicated resources, and a partner like Ekco to guide you through the intricacies of cloud optimisation.

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