Top 5 Cloud Strategy Tips For the Year 2020

In this chapter of ‘The Role of Transformational Partners in Organization Change’, we introduce Nordcloud’s vision for Cloud Strategy and adoption. You will learn insights on how Nordcloud approaches cloud strategy work and what are the top 5 key focus areas for the year 2020.

Nordcloud’s Approach to Cloud Strategy

Nordcloud’s approach is usually focused on the following four areas:

1. Current state analysis. In cooperation with our client, we aim to understand our client’s business model, IT operating model, data landscape, application landscape and current IT infrastructure. This analysis will form a baseline for the cloud strategy work.
2. Target state. What are current objectives and existing plans for the above areas?
3. Gap analysis. This part of the work is usually the most important, as we identify and prioritize short-term and long-term gaps. At Nordcloud, we are also doers, and instead of just identifying gaps, we also find quick wins and get the job done in accelerated speed.
4. Strategy. After the above is done, we form a roadmap for the cloud adoption, create a business case, and align the documentation with overall IT strategy. The roadmap usually consists of an operating model, migration plan, cloud native development operations, continuity and risk analysis, sourcing, risks and a transformation plan.

Overall, cloud strategy work is pretty time-consuming and if you wish to get the wheels rolling fast, we recommend that you look for immediate and short-term improvement areas. Quick wins will support cloud strategy work and help create a positive impact for the project and overall transformation.

Top 5 tips for the year 2020

1. Define your target state for the year 2020. To define your target state you will need to decide which services and applications will be moved to the cloud, what are the business expectations for services and activities,  and what metrics you will use to measure the success of your current state.
2. In the year 2020, invest more in strategy, governance and operational excellence and less in putting out fires. It’s almost a trend that enterprise business units are making fast moves and responding to market demands with agile external partners, leaving IT departments scratching their heads and acting in a reactive manner. Whether centralized IT is the right partner for agile cloud adaptation is a debatable matter, but at least enterprise should have a proper cloud strategy, governance and operational model, in order to make sure that cloud adaptation is getting CXO level sponsorship and alignment with business goals.
3. Continuously assess the current state of your company’s IT organization. Most cloud transformation projects fail due to a lack of skills or inability understand developer requirements and business needs. Upskilling is highly recommended and a necessary part of the transformation process. Secondly, Task Force initiatives have proven to be a very effective way to share information between different parties.
4. Continuously align and prioritize your cloud initiatives. Cloud strategy work is continuous and requires the ability to prioritize actions based on changing needs in line with larger cloud strategy and governance.
5. Get started! For any successful cloud adoption it’s essential to gain quick wins, even small ones. Just make sure that you have established internal communication channels where you can highlight and showcase your progress. Remember, a great cloud strategy means very little if you are not able to execute it successfully!

We Nordcloudians wish you all the best for the year 2020 - let’s meet on the cloudy side! *** To pursue the keys to supercharging your digital success, download our IDC Infobrief Hyperscale Cloud Platforms As An Accelerator For Digital! Yes, I want to learn more This is the third instalment in our series “The Role of Transformational Partners in Organization Change”. Read the previous post: Right Partners Are The Key To Digital Transformation Success Cloud Center of Excellence Supports Continuous Transformation