Whether your organization is pursuing a cloud-first strategy for digital transformation, or if your enterprise is at the beginning stages of testing out how the cloud fits with your technology plan, you need a cloud roadmap.
A cloud roadmap provides a structure and guideline for implementing new technology, keeping in mind your overall digital transformation strategy. It helps ensure your enterprise will arrive at the intended destination, rather than each department or manager implementing cloud solutions as needed without an overarching plan. While most organizations include a budget in their planning, there are three often-overlooked elements that should be included with your cloud roadmap:
Talent: Does your plan include a strategy for supporting cloud solutions with the necessary infrastructure? If so, your plan may need to include an expansion of your network team for handling the kinds of connectivity that bandwidth-hungry, high-performance cloud solutions demand. While there are options for outsourcing IT to managed services, including the management of software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) and other infrastructure support, it’s important to include this consideration as you map out your path to a cloud environment.
In order to plan for talent, be sure to think ahead about data storage needs, what kinds of technology principles your enterprise will follow, and the types of technology solutions your team wants to prioritize.
Buy-In: In many cases, a cloud roadmap may be best championed not by IT, but by the head of the marketing department. Many of the benefits gained through cloud technology are manifested in the customer experience, the domain of marketing teams. Even if IT spearheads the cloud roadmap process, it’s important to involve managers and directors across the organization, as well as having them identify members of their own teams for providing input.
It’s also important to include representatives from security, compliance, and finance, as well as members of the network team.
A Schedule: A cloud roadmap takes time to develop; and like your organization’s broader digital transformation strategy, it’s never finished. Create a timeline with your team that allows you to revisit the plan and make changes as your organization’s goals, budget, and needs change. Your cloud roadmap will see some new turns as you embark on cloud projects and discover challenges unique to your organization.
It’s important not to look at your cloud roadmap weekly, or even monthly, because you may lose sight of your bigger strategies. Revisiting the roadmap every other month to refine, and every three-to-six months for revisions should be adequate.
Does your organization need assistance in creating a cloud roadmap? Contact us at Cloud Source, and we will guide you through the process.