Cloud enablement
What is cloud enablement?
Cloud enablement is the process of analyzing an organization’s existing in-house information technology (IT) infrastructure (all hardware, software and network resources) to determine which aspects can be migrated to, and deployed in, a cloud environment. This can include migrating servers, operating systems, databases, business applications and more to a cloud environment.
Cloud enablement strategy
Some essential steps in implementing a cloud enablement strategy include:
- Defining your goals: Identify the goals your organization wants to achieve, such as reducing IT overhead, improving agility and enabling remote work opportunities.
- Assessing your requirements: Look at your current on-premise set-up to determine the equivalent component in the proposed cloud environment.
- Selecting a cloud deployment model: This could be public cloud (all infrastructure is owned and managed by the cloud provider), private cloud (cloud computing resources are used exclusively by one organization) or hybrid cloud (a combination of on-premises infrastructure with cloud services).
- Selecting the right cloud service provider: Consider the provider’s certifications and standards, whether their platform supports the technologies in the organization’s current environment, their best practices for data security and data governance, the reliability and performance of the platform, their contract and service-level agreement options, migration support and more.
Benefits of cloud enablement
A properly executed cloud enablement strategy can provide the following benefits to an organization:
- Scalability: Companies can adjust their bandwidth in response to business cycles rather than having to purchase larger or more powerful servers and other devices.
- Cost-savings: Organizations can save on capital expenditures related to hardware, software licensing, facilities and more. Further, cloud providers usually offer service-level agreements, which means that you pay for only the computing resources you use.
- Accessibility: Users can access cloud-based files, business applications and data from anywhere and on virtually any device that is connected to the internet, enabling remote work opportunities.
- Application deployment: New tools and applications can be implemented quickly and efficiently since there is no need to purchase new hardware or wait for IT staff to set up a new server.
- Resources: Cloud providers often offer IT services, particularly for highly specialized services, to further save your organization money.
- Disaster recovery: When data and applications are stored on-premises, they are subject to the safety of their physical location. Cloud platforms allow for automatic backups, making data loss much less likely.