As line-of-business managers push your development team for quick adoption of cloud solutions, the result can be a mash of different providers, platforms and applications that bear no resemblance to the type of strategic cloud adoption process that enterprise IT may prefer. Your multi-cloud migration strategy should be a carefully-executed plan in order to produce the most possible benefit for your organization.
Determine the Meaning of Multi-Cloud for Your Enterprise. Clearly, you’re talking about more than one cloud, but many people use hybrid cloud and multi-cloud interchangeably, so it’s important to define your terms. Maybe you’re wanting to continue using your private cloud but add in the power of the public cloud in a hybrid architecture. Or perhaps different teams want to access different cloud solutions, with each handled by a different provider in a multi-provider setting.
Don’t Jump in Without Looking. A multi-cloud migration should always start with a trial case that provides an immediate measurable business benefit. It should also focus on a workload or process that won’t impact any critical business processes in the event of a failure. This type of scenario allows your enterprise to enjoy immediate benefits and buy-in without the risk of failure.
Create a Plan. Share with your team how you plan to choose a provider and the factors that will impact this decision:
· Business goals should be kept central to the process, so you won’t be wowed by the features of a solution and forget what you’re trying to accomplish through a multi-cloud migration.
· Compliance requirements should be included in any consideration, so you won’t cause your organization to be out of compliance when you choose a provider that stores data internationally, for instance.
· Interoperability should be considered if cloud solutions need to work in an integrated fashion.
· Budget concerns may require you to reconsider customization or special features.
· Provider lock-in is a factor that should always enter into a cloud decision.
Get Feedback from Your Developers. Your development team can tell you whether a technology is new or tired, but they may also be enticed by fun, new technology that is either entertaining for their jobs or may be good for their careers. You may have to find a balance between what the provider offers and what the development team prefers.
Create a Storefront. Rather than give development teams an excuse to go “shopping” for a cloud solution, you can create a central hub where they go to choose from options endorsed by enterprise IT.
If you’re contemplating the best way to strategically begin a multi-cloud migration, contact us at Clarksys. We can help you create a plan that satisfies your developers while protecting your business goals.