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What is a Cloud Strategy and How Can You Create One for Your Organization?

A comprehensive, enterprise-ready cloud platform like AWS can help your organization leverage the best cloud technologies available today. With its 200+ full-featured services, you can innovate faster, build agile operations, lower costs, and create a more resilient enterprise.

But to realize these possibilities, you need a robust cloud strategy. This article explores why a cloud strategy is important and how you can create one to successfully transition to the AWS Cloud.

What is a Cloud Strategy?

Gartner defines a cloud strategy as a living document, designed (as a) bridge between a high-level corporate strategy and a cloud implementation/adoption/migration plan. It consists of a cloud migration action plan that’s tied to the enterprise strategy and business objectives you want to achieve with this migration.

Different companies have different cloud strategies. But in general, an effective cloud strategy:

  • Is a short, consumable, “living” document that can be shared with all relevant stakeholders
  • Maps business needs with cloud objectives
  • Aligns cloud-related actions with enterprise goals
  • Outlines the desired cloud architecture and governance model
  • Clearly defines the cloud’s cost, functionality, and service levels

The cloud strategy document has a middle-term planning horizon that’s focused on capturing the desired business outcomes from the AWS Cloud.

Why Your Organization Needs a Cloud Strategy

A well thought-out cloud strategy is vital to ensure effective performance of your cloud infrastructure, workloads, data, and applications. It will provide clarity on how you intend to use the AWS Cloud and the benefits you expect by shifting to the cloud.

Without a strategy, you will likely struggle to identify the actions required to move to the cloud, which will hamper the migration momentum and may even result in failure. Costs may also spiral out of control and risks may increase. An effective cloud strategy can prevent all these problems and achieve your desired business outcome, whether it’s cost reduction, increased agility, business scalability, or enhanced enterprise resilience.

Strategies to Develop a Robust Cloud Strategy for your Business

Your cloud strategy should involve both business and functional/technical representatives because cloud migration is not an “IT-only” issue. The document should also clearly articulate the phases of the cloud migration journey.

Before building the strategy, assess your current cloud capabilities. Also identify your “desired state”: what do you hope to accomplish by migrating to AWS? Look for the gaps between existing capabilities and the desired state and identify the actions required to close them.

Finally, prioritize the workloads you want to migrate and identify the appropriate migration method for each: lift and shift, refactor/rearchitect, re-platform, repurchase, or retire.

Conclusion

Per Gartner, 50% of large organizations will have a business-driven cloud strategy by 2025. Do you need support building your cloud strategy? Contact Axcess.io to get started right away.