Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is a model for delivering computing services, such as storage, processing power, software, and networking, over the internet instead of on local hardware. In a cloud computing program, users can access and use these computing resources on demand, without the need to manage the underlying infrastructure themselves.

Cloud computing’s upward trajectory.

To tap the full value of the cloud, organizations are investing in cloud-native applications, operating models, and architectures and using cloud-native thinking to inform cloud decisions and application modernization initiatives. The cloud’s influence on IT operating models includes IT operations management, security, networking, and business functions like procurement, where cloud marketplaces are becoming common in technology purchasing.

In response to the inevitable mass shift to the cloud, the fastest-growing IT market has become anything related to cloud computing. Organizations use cloud computing to support mainstream operations, digital foundations, IT modernization, and business outcomes driven by digital transformation. Many modernized businesses adopt cloud operating principles as their preferred style of operations.

Despite its maturity, cloud computing remains in the spotlight because it has proven itself a reliable vehicle for delivering IT capabilities. It is also an innovation foundation for the capabilities that all businesses need.

Business requirements are prompting organizations to look into cloud-based innovations like AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), telco clouds driven by 5G, and edge computing. Providers are working on innovations such as quantum computing as a service via the cloud to support business growth initiatives further.

Implement a cloud operating model to match your needs.

Most organizations haphazardly adopt cloud computing ─ a few SaaS applications, a few workloads in infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or platform as a service. This is manageable on a small scale, but unchecked ad hoc adoption comes with drawbacks. Aside from being unscalable, it is ungovernable and expensive.

Organizations that have not yet begun their cloud journey can avoid this tangle of issues by implementing a cloud operating model ─ a set of organizational structures, processes, capabilities, and relationships that support cloud computing. Note that no one model is right for all organizations, and the model you start with will morph over time to match your needs.

Here are the steps for setting up a cloud operating model:

Set up advisory bodies. A cloud center of excellence (CCOC) guides and oversees the entire process. Large enterprises may also opt to create a cloud executive council.

Align priorities. If you haven’t already established a formal cloud strategy, work with the CCOC to hammer out some basic cloud adoption principles. If you already have a strategy, make sure it aligns well with priorities.

Establish the core of the model. This includes envisioning your present-day and long-term model, as well as a path from one to the other. The cloud enablement function (the CCOE or cloud enterprise architecture function) will serve as the core of the cloud operating model.

                                                       Thanks for reading!!