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Exploring cloud modernization challenges and the path forward

Jun 16, 2021

When considering cloud migration and modernization, many organizations are focused on moving workloads, reducing costs, and shifting from traditional on-premise data centers. But this is only a small piece of the true modernization opportunity. Organizations must embrace new software delivery paradigms across practices, architectures, and deployment methods to facilitate change in all parts of the organization. By taking advantage of cloud modernization, it is possible to maximize impact, improve the customer experience, and improve the bottom line while doing so. However, some of the biggest problems most modernization projects face are also the most basic: what do we modernize? how do we prioritize and rank projects? when do we begin? In this article, we’ll explore these questions and guide you along in your journey to modernization. Jump to a section: Approaches to modernization Getting buy-in for modernization Prioritizing modernization efforts Choosing which applications to modernize The path to modernization Leveraging cloud and API strategies to enable true digital transformation Approaches to cloud modernization Each application has different needs, and you can move to the cloud in more than one way. Consider all aspects of your current situation as well as the end goal before getting started. Here are five common approaches for cloud modernization, as well as considerations, in order of cloud maturity level from least mature to most mature: 1. Replatform (lift and shift) This faster, less resource-intensive migration moves your apps to the cloud without any code modification. The key is to spend minimal time and money, yet realize the benefits. But not all applications lend themselves to this method, and you might find yourself running into internal and external dependencies. 2. Move, then modernize This strategy is also known as platform as a service (PaaS). In it, you run your apps on a cloud provider’s infrastructure. Developers can reuse languages, frameworks, and containers leveraging code that’s specific to the company. The downside might be missing capabilities, transitive risk, and being tethered to a particular framework. 3. Modernize, then move Support modernization requirements by modifying or extending existing code; then move to the cloud. Using this method, you can leverage the cloud characteristics of your provider’s infrastructure but does also mean incurring upfront development expense. 4. Replace with SaaS When requirements for a business function change quickly, this approach of buying the technology avoids the time and investment of mobilizing a development team. But you may face issues like inconsistent data semantics, difficult data access, and being locked into a vendor. 5. Rebuild or refactor By re-architecting cloud-compatible legacy applications, you can fully realize all the benefits. But this approach typically involves significant recoding. Not all applications warrant this investment, but those that do will find value long-term. Determining your functions Once you determine your overall approach, considering the delivery vehicle for your applications will help determine if you should be using virtual machines, containers, or serverless functions. Modern application design patterns are based on the principles of scalability, statelessness, and high availability — and can still be delivered by using a virtual machine. There’s no standard rule for which is best. Cloud-native development is an approach to building, running, and improving apps based on well-known techniques and technologies. It’s a way to build and run responsive, scalable apps in any environment, whether it be public, private, or a hybrid cloud: Serverless When developers don’t have to provision servers or manage scaling, routine tasks are abstracted by the cloud provider. As an event triggers app code to run, the cloud provider dynamically allocates resources. The user stops paying when the code finishes executing. In addition to the cost and efficiency benefits, serverless frees developers from routine and menial tasks associated with app scaling and server provisioning. Container Containers help alleviate issues and iterate faster across multiple environments. By separating areas of responsibility, conflict is reduced between development and operations teams. Developers can focus on their apps and operations teams can focus on the infrastructure. And, because Linux containers are based on open-source technology, the latest and greatest advancements can be used as soon as they’re available. Virtual machine Everything inside the virtual machines is configured individually for the apps you run in them. The host operating system simply acts as a foundation for VMs to run. With VMs, you can run an entire operating stack in a virtual machine. Related article: 5 keys to planning a successful cloud implementation Getting buy-in for modernization One of the greatest challenges we see IT leaders face today is getting organizational (and budget) buy-in for modernization efforts. Too often, businesses focus on the costs of these initiatives without taking into account the benefits modernization can provide. When putting together your business case for modernization, consider framing up how moving to the cloud is part of your business strategy to: Fight competitive threats and enable you to develop technology that your business requires; you’ll be able to create and deploy new features faster Break your innovation crisis and be empowered to develop new strategies that don’t rely on outdated tech stacks Replace your house of cards, moving away from constraints about fragility and not being able to test properly Attract technical leaders and not have one lone specialist who is the only one capable of repair for a specific system Restructure, merge, and acquire because older versions of middleware can quickly become a drain on budgets Modernization can be thought of as a way to make the most of your existing investments, no matter what your industry. But consider the bigger picture. How can you best meet your overall business goals? What applications would you start with? Related article: The cloud: From cost center to profit center Prioritizing cloud modernization efforts When you’re thinking of leveraging APIs to connect data, applications, or other business elements, legacy systems can be an excellent place to start, as there can be immediate time and cost savings in tackling them first. These highly integrated applications can be complex and challenging. Using APIs to decouple them from the infrastructure can start the process to shift monolithic apps into more granular, cloud-based functions. In considering systems that could be moved to the cloud, the idea of modernization is comingled with migration. Instead of moving from version to version of an application, your modernization plans now probably involve the cloud. This presents a number of unique decisions. You’ll have to make choices about the applications you prioritize to move into the cloud, and the pace to change is rapid. It is not just if you will modernize but when and how fast. For every system, no matter how advanced, technical debt eventually accumulates to the point where change is necessary. Choosing which applications to modernize As organizations move to the cloud, they are creating new ecosystems, placing the customer at the center of everything that happens. Front-office functions are no longer the only consideration to update. Taking a customer-centered approach allows faster response times, increases in speed, and efficiency, and creates advantages over competitors. The customer relationship can be redefined, enabling companies to better understand needs, wants, and purchasing patterns. Consider the applications that power the customer journey across functions and departments: Front office – Customer-facing website and mobile experiences Middle office – Analytics and customer insight apps Back office – Employee-shared services, including records and transactions Focusing on customer-related applications can prove results quickly, and improve buy-in for future cloud modernization projects. The path to cloud modernization When evaluating potential cloud modernization opportunities, there are five key steps, 1) Align; 2) Design; 3) Connect; 4) Implement; and 5) Enable. Alignment and strategy development When planning for modernization, consolidate and charter all elements of the modernization strategy. By partnering with key leaders across the business, you can be sure that all parties are involved and understand the project’s implications. When you are ready, capture and socialize the roadmap across programs and initiatives, getting everyone on board. Remember, cloud is only one part of the modernization puzzle. Design and adoption Once you’ve aligned stakeholders, it’s time to define your north star for the architecture and technology of your approach. Examine key cloud platforms and then capture and socialize reference architecture. You’ll also evaluate the type of microservices, containers, and serverless design. There are many ways to achieve your goals, but do keep in mind that some architectures can become incompatible. Connection and Integration Beyond middleware, integration can connect and allow data to be shared across teams. On the other hand, having separation of data can enable federation and autonomy. Legacy applications can be modernized and, in some cases, replaced. Innovation can be spread across bespoke, SaaS, and legacy investments. APIs are the key to unlock modern architecture. Enabling modernization across the enterprise This is a cyclical process, and when you near the end of implementation, it might be time for another project! The modernization process is always in flux and for almost all, efforts are never fully complete. You’ll continue to learn as you iterate and be able to refine the work you’re doing across the organization. Implementation When it’s time for implementation, it’s important to contain the risk. Make changes across your portfolio one by one. Prioritize your timeline by business case and stick to the reference architecture you built previously. Remember that the path to cloud modernization isn’t just a straight line, it should be circular to reflect an ongoing process. Leveraging cloud and API strategies to enable true digital transformation Digital transformation powers innovation and increases an organization’s ability to meet and exceed customer expectations. However, for companies with outdated IT systems and legacy applications standing in the way of progress, modernization is the way forward. Wherever you are on your organization’s journey to modernization, we’ve got resources to help you along the way. Want to talk? Just let us know.

5 keys to planning a successful cloud implementation

Oct 20, 2020

The cloud is everywhere today, and it continues to be touted as the silver-bullet solution to everything from backup and disaster recovery to infinitely scalable mobile applications to inexpensive storage and nearly everything in between. While the cloud finally solves certain problems that have vexed corporations for decades, implementing the cloud successfully within a business takes leadership and a sound, carefully considered strategy. 1. Have a vision The first key to any successful cloud implementation is understanding the business need and business case for the cloud within your particular organization. This may seem obvious, but as I warn in my book, “Achieving Process Profitability, Building the IT Profit Center,” too often technology is implemented for the sake of technology. The cloud, as the new shiny object, is a temptation for technologists and individuals who want to follow the crowd. Therefore, bear in mind the single, universal, and undeniable mission of IT within a business is to make that business operate more efficiently, effectively, and profitably. With this mission in mind, there are definitely areas where the cloud can increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability of a business. However, these will vary depending upon the business. Some corporations may wish to reduce capital expenditures on technology. Others might wish to increase the agility or flexibility of the business. Still, others might desire to increase IT’s responsiveness to the business. Additional business needs might include increasing security and compliance, advancing corporate green or mobility initiatives, or future-proofing systems by making them easily scalable. The exact mix of these needs are important and should be agreed upon by the corporate officers. These business needs ultimately form the vision for the use of cloud computing within a corporation. 2. Develop a sound strategy Once the needs are fully understood, document them in a strategic plan. These become the guiding vision and mission of the cloud within the business. The objective is to state in plain language how the cloud can help the business be more efficient, effective, and profitable and achieve the overall goals and vision of the company. Next, perform a SWOT analysis with regard to the cloud. A SWOT analysis is a structured planning method that analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a particular project or business venture. See the example below. Using a SWOT analysis allows you to get specific about your organization’s cloud readiness and what threats exist that could prevent utilization of the cloud to achieve the stated business objectives. Any good strategic plan must include specific, measurable goals, or actions. These goals should be tied back to the SWOT analysis and business objectives identified earlier. Again, be specific with these goals. Instead of a goal such as “acquire new skills,” list the specific skills to be acquired. The final part of the strategic plan is to create one-year, two-year and three-year roadmaps on how to move the organization down the path of cloud adoption while achieving the stated goals and objectives. The roadmap should list specific projects, training, strategic hires, etc. that, as completed, make a measurable impact on your strategic goals. Example SWOT Analysis Strengths Significant virtualization experience IT systems management and governance Strong, trusted offshore partner Strong, collaborative, supportive leadership Weaknesses Cloud expertise is lacking overall, skills retooling required Network connectivity at satellite locations Opportunities Leverage cloud to reduce corporate costs, especially SaaS and PaaS solutions Leverage cloud to increase responsiveness to the business Offload compliance and auditing burden Foster innovation Threats Increasingly competitive industry External regulators are introducing new revisions to their compliance requirements in the next two quarters Recently lost our primary enterprise architect 3. Establish governance now It seems that no new technology can be adopted in an organization without the topic of governance coming up. Cloud is no exception, and governance is, in fact, even more critical to get right with the cloud than with most other technologies. The reason is that the cloud makes buying and deploying technology cheaper and easier than ever before. Business units that control their own budgets can choose a cloud technology, buy it, implement it, and bypass IT completely. The cloud is so inexpensive in some cases that the charges can be applied to a credit card and expensed. In general, allowing business units this much leeway in technology buying decisions is generally a mistake, providing short-term benefits to that particular business unit, but adversely affecting the organization as a whole over time. Start by integrating cloud governance into existing technology steering committees or enterprise architecture groups in order to provide ongoing governance in which workloads make sense for the cloud. But don’t stop there. Proper governance for the cloud needs a holistic approach. Engage the finance department to monitor business expenses and departmental expenditures for rogue cloud activity. In addition, consider modifying existing bonus structures such that a portion of management bonuses are based upon making decisions that benefit the organization as a whole, not just a manager’s particular business unit. 4. Manage organizational change Forbes has tagged the cloud as potentially “the most disruptive technology ever,” and this includes the internet, which essentially made the cloud possible. That kind of disruption does not come without impacts to an organization and these impacts should not be underestimated. New skills need to be learned, new groups must be organized and new ways of thinking need to be adopted. However, change often brings fear – fear of the unknown, of being replaced, of losing control, or not being able to keep up – all of which lie at the root of resistance to adoption. With something as transformative as the cloud, managing the “people” side of the change is imperative to getting your employees on board. Organizational change management (OCM) does just that. OCM defines the steps, processes, and cultural changes necessary for your employees to embrace the technological and cultural changes you are setting forth as you implement the cloud. It doesn’t matter how much time, money, and effort you have invested into the technology; a lack of widespread adoption by the people of your organization can lead any technological project to be deemed a failure. 5. Innovate Of all the benefits the cloud brings to businesses, the ability to facilitate innovation is perhaps the most overlooked. The cloud provides a “fail-fast, succeed-fast” environment that allows businesses to experiment with new technologies and new ways of doing things at a less expensive price point than ever before. Businesses should form a cloud innovation group that experiments with ways of using the cloud to make the business more efficient, effective, and profitable. Small investments in cloud innovation can bring big rewards for companies that are not afraid to adapt to the new reality of cloud. Organizations that do not embrace the cloud, change, and innovation would do well to remember that entire industries were disrupted and largely snuffed out by the internet and mobile revolutions. Consider the failure of newspapers to understand how the internet would destroy profits in an over-100-year-old industry or how mobile computing disrupted the taxi industry. The issue with the cloud, as Forbes points out, is that the cloud impacts every industry on earth, so ignoring is done at one’s own peril. Conclusion As with any complex technology, the cloud requires an investment in crafting a clear vision, strategy, and plan in order to provide the greatest return on investment and avoid the pitfalls of increased overhead, rogue IT, and duplicated systems. Making this investment and avoiding the common pitfalls of cloud adoption will ensure that the cloud helps make your organization more efficient, effective, and profitable. Interested in learning more? Take five minutes to find out how cloud can be a profit center. Another quick read explains which public cloud offering is right for you.

Cloud 101: Let’s remove the complexity

Aug 17, 2020

Whether you’re on the journey of exploring whether cloud is right for your organization or just trying figure out what the all the buzz is about, this article will break down the basics of cloud for you. What is cloud? The cloud is a method where you are provided IT resources as a service. This means servers, networks, platforms, and software. A provider takes ownership of all related resources and processes, and you pay them a monthly fee. What are the benefits of cloud? If the cloud is nothing more than servers being hosted for you, then why should people move to the cloud? After all, you’ve already made a heavy investment in your existing infrastructure. There shouldn’t be a need to switch over to having a cloud provider host your machines when you’ve already paid for them, right? The difference lies within the service that is being provided to you. Cloud providers bestow an easy-to-use, configurable way to spin up servers, networks, and storage on demand, quickly. They can be in charge of your hardware, your data, and all of the processes related to it (disaster recovery, maintenance, capacity management, etc.) so you have time to focus on your business. The important benefits that you gain when switching to have your servers and services hosted on the cloud are: Agility Scalability Reliability & Security Cost Agility Think about how much time it takes to provision a full application to your environment. You would first have to discover each tier of the application (web, application, data, etc.) and determine each hardware need. Assuming you don’t have the capacity to develop a large application, you would have to go through the request and procurement process to obtain the hardware. This requires you to very closely right-size the capital expenditure so you don’t overpay for the hardware. When it’s done, you’ll have to install the servers in the data center, deploy the virtualization software to the machine, and start to build the machines as stated in the specification. Now, even if your company is one of the few that diligently buys and over allocates hardware to compensate for future capacity trends, we’re still looking at an inability to rapidly provision servers when a business unit needs it. One of the characteristics that makes cloud so appealing is the ability to quickly provision on demand. No up-front investment, no additional labor cost. Simply select a server size, an operating system, and other configurations you’re looking for, and the cloud can create that server for you in minutes. Agility means time. And the less time you have to spend on workload tasks, the more time you can work on the more important things that deliver value to the business. Scalability Determining capacity remains an elusive task for many companies. The resources you need are predicted through trends of what has been used. The problem with predictions is that they are not always right. Even more important, it’s very hard to acquire additional hardware and resources using predictions. As a matter of fact, many infrastructures choose to downgrade servers rather than buy more hardware. The cloud cuts through this with (seemingly) unlimited resources that you can pool and use. Need 5,000 more web servers across the world for a few weeks to handle your Black Friday sales? No problem with cloud. The ability to never have to worry about maximum capacity and to focus on right-sizing existing resources becomes the de-facto standard with cloud. Keep in mind that when you scale you pay for more, but when you’re not using those resources, you don’t. Reliability and security If you don’t own your servers, and your data is no longer in house, how do you work through strategies like business continuity and disaster recovery? How do you control risk and cybersecurity? This boils down to trust. Cloud providers have spent a lot of time working to pass security and regulatory agencies, like PCI, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley. They also have a large amount of resources dedicated to keeping and securing data. After all, why would a provider go through all of the money they’ve spent on preparing the cloud for the biggest of businesses, only to get hacked and have countless lawsuits on their hands? With cloud providers, you own your data, it is secure and their disaster recovery service-level agreements (SLAs) are unmatched. Cost There are many benefits on the cost-side of cloud. We went ahead and wrote an additional article to dive deeper. Check out our article, The Cloud: From Cost to Profit Center. Types of cloud Wait, there’s more than one type of cloud? Yes, and each of them are enhancements to the last. We’ll describe them below: Software as a Service (SaaS) Platform as a Service (PaaS) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) On-premises (private cloud) Software as a service (SaaS) SaaS offerings are turnkey solutions in which a cloud provider gives you access to targeted application services. Your company is not required to install, configure, or deploy any infrastructure. The provider does all of it. For many organizations, SaaS represents the first foray into the cloud. With flagship SaaS products, such as Office 365 and Salesforce CRM, enterprise products that can offer true cloud solutions represent the majority of growth in the competitive cloud marketplace. For any enterprise looking to procure new enterprise applications, SaaS is generally the first stop on the journey. While potentially sacrificing some flexibility, organizations receive an operationalized subscription service that is available the moment you are ready. Platform as a service (PaaS) For organizations that leverage and build applications, PaaS cloud offerings give you the best of the cloud and the best of customized solutions. With PaaS, your development teams focus on one thing: developing the application solutions that add value to your business, and nothing that does not. Your team members can focus on code, data, and integration, and the infrastructure is left to the cloud provider. The advantage of PaaS is that your teams can get the flexibility of custom solutions with the infrastructure and management capabilities of the public cloud. PaaS applications are also uniquely valuable because they offer the following functionality: Unlimited, push-button scaling without deploying new code Transparent and independent infrastructure patching and updates Simplified distribution among many application servers Deployment capabilities that allow your company to deploy as many environments as you desire, pay for the temporary usage, and then scale back when the resources are not used Unified management portal and application performance management (APM) PaaS applications represent the greatest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and fastest time to market for custom solutions and are valuable for both the startup and enterprise. PaaS makes the development, testing, and deployment of applications simple and cost-effective. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) In an IaaS environment, you’re simply moving your virtual machines from your data center to the cloud. The impact of doing so is that you will not have to worry about capacity or the cost of factors like cooling or equipment. You are not required to move all your machines to the cloud. In fact, most organizations select a combination of servers hosted in cloud and some in their own datacenter for moving to the cloud – and that’s what’s called hybrid cloud. Selecting which servers move is essentially a business decision based on considerations like cost, hardware lease renewals, or software licensing requirements. For example, if App A is running on old hardware that needs replaced, why not move it to the cloud instead of purchasing new hardware? Your server will still be the same as it was before, with the same configurations and settings. Nothing has changed except for where the server exists. On-Premises (private cloud) How is a private cloud (one where you own all the resources) different from a typical data center? A datacenter doesn’t provide those resources like a service, whereas a private cloud does, with key elements being automation and self-service capabilities. You can leverage your existing hardware investment to give your business the same experience as using a cloud provider. This still provides some of the business value and benefits as a true public cloud, but without a huge expenditure. That’s one main reason why a business would want to make their data center a private cloud. They’ve already spent money to have that expensive data center on-premises. They may want the benefits of the cloud, but they can’t throw those dollars out the window. The private cloud is the answer to gaining cloud benefits now, but not getting rid of your existing data center investment. As the equipment and licenses expire, the transition to a hybrid or public cloud makes more sense. You can transform your data center into a private cloud by meeting two goals: Make your datacenter capable of providing self-service so that staff can request servers, infrastructure, or any other IT request through a centralized solution, such as a portal Automate your datacenter so that servers, infrastructure, and other IT resources are provisioned, managed, and deprovisioned without IT intervention Automation and self-service create tremendous efficiencies for IT personnel, freeing up their time to innovate in order to drive business decisions rather than spending time on repetitive processes and firefighting. Conclusion Now you know a little more about cloud, in very real terms. That’s the first step to make a decision on what you can actually use the cloud for and when. Companies move to the cloud for agility in an ever-changing world. While some organizations are still swamped managing their infrastructure and IT, others have moved to the cloud and are able to focus on driving business. This provides an unmatched competitive edge, and with the cloud market continuing to grow in leaps and bounds, businesses that don’t stay current in this technology revolution will be hard-pressed to remain competitive. Cloud is a huge proposition, but Fusion has the expertise to help you get there. We’ll help you understand the best strategies that will work specifically for your business and lead the way to that big cloud in the sky with our team of architects and business professionals.

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Articles about Page: Cloud Strategy

Three technology strategies walk into a bar

Exploring cloud modernization challenges and the path forward

5 keys to planning a successful cloud implementation

Cloud 101: Let’s remove the complexity

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