As the chief tech exec of your company, you are faced with a nervous CEO/CFO/COO who wants to cut costs amidst economic uncertainties. Understanding the potential benefits of a move to cloud technology in reducing total cost of ownership, they have tasked you with exploring the expedited migration of certain application assets to the cloud. How will you proceed?
We talked in past posts about technology strategy. If you have one in place, this can help you convince the leadership that jumping too fast to a new platform can be detrimental to the organization.
You have not retooled your processes or retrained your staff, and you certainly don’t know the impact on the business by moving too quickly. What about contact center support?
In our technology strategy we have the following step:
7. Envision Target State and Assess Gaps: The IT mandate and analysis of the current environment should allow for definition of strategic goals and a conceptualization of the future state. To achieve this goal, follow an Enterprise Architecture modeling approach that allows for depiction of a potential future state.
By clearly defining what the target environment should look like – to support the business goals – you will have an idea for the training needs of the organization. You should also begin to understand the costs of such a move, and the impacts on how the business operates today.
Manage expectations
Operating without a well-thought-out strategy exposes technology leaders to inherent vulnerabilities.
You will not only have a difficult time maintaining the target platform because you won’t have the correct skills, but you’ll also need to support the current platform because you’ll need overlap… assuming you can even move everything. Don’t underestimate the cost to train your people and support your technology environments.
If you are re-platforming (just moving) applications from on-site to the cloud, you’ll find that they may not perform as well and need retrofitting, which is costly. This could also leave you with technical debt, such as back versions of software, and systems components that could be eliminated before a cloud move.
In general, transitioning your cloud (or any platform) may result in increased expenses for the company and potential job loss. Ultimately, it is crucial to leverage your strategy when considering technology shifts to ensure comprehensive planning and mitigate risks effectively.
Click here for a post on what the cloud is and why it’s important.