Shifting to the cloud is something virtually every organization is doing as part of its digital transformation. However, switching to the cloud takes time, and it needs to be done right to ensure the technology continues to meet the needs of the business. This is where a cloud adoption framework comes in, making it possible for a business to determine the best route for them as they make the shift.
What Is a Cloud Adoption Framework?
A cloud adoption framework is a tool a company can use to facilitate its shift to the cloud by providing a roadmap that will help them align its technology agenda with its business and operational goals. All major cloud service providers, such as Microsoft Azure, Google, and AWS, have developed their own cloud adoption framework to better serve their customers.
The Stages of the Cloud Adoption Framework
The cloud adoption framework is typically comprised of six stages that, when followed, will make the adoption of the cloud as efficient and successful as possible. These stages are:
1. Strategy
The first step in any cloud adoption framework is to develop a cloud adoption strategy that requires you to identify your current business needs and technology environment and clarify your business objectives to determine how the cloud can help you meet them.
2. Planning
At this point, you need to plan your transformation in detail. This includes getting your employees onboard and training them, developing/altering your processes to meet the needs of cloud migration, and aligning your technology to the cloud adoption model.
3. Readiness
Choose your cloud service provider and get your environment ready for the migration. You need to be sure the cloud architecture is suitable for the design of your workloads and that you will have the implementation and ongoing support that you need.
4. Adoption
There are two parts to adoption – migration and innovation. Migration is the simple shift of your existing environment to the cloud. Innovation involves the modernization of your digital presence using cloud-native technologies.
You can use a software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), or infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model, depending on how business-critical your systems are. Less business-critical systems, such as office productivity and customer relations management (CRM), can work with SaaS, while more business-critical systems, such as warehousing and production, require PaaS.
It is important to run a pilot of your migration to test it out. This is particularly important for mission-critical applications and systems that cannot experience an extended downtime should something go wrong.
5. Governance
It is important that you develop a governance strategy. This should define where each business task will be performed, include the appropriate access policies, and develop and implement tools for ongoing monitoring and security of both on-premises and cloud-based systems and applications.
6. Monitoring and Management
Post-migration, you need to establish ongoing monitoring and management of all your applications and systems. Monitoring of cloud performance through data collection and alerts should be based on your performance goals and the service level agreement (SLA) you have with your service provider. Proper management of your cloud environment through the use of best practices will help ensure it stays resilient and that you can quickly and easily recover from any incidents that arise.
Contact Platinum Technologies today to find out how we can help you implement a cloud adoption framework that will ensure your cloud migration is successful.
