Common Cloud Mistakes to Look Out For

What’s your cloud strategy? According to Gartner, cloud strategy is “a concise viewpoint on the role of cloud computing in the organization.” Locking in your strategy is a key element of success. This blog post covers some common cloud strategy mistakes to look out for as you move forward.

1. Not involving departments outside of IT

It’s easy to assume that cloud computing is strictly about technology, and an IT-only problem, but that mindset can be damaging to your overall strategy. Every aspect of the business should be involved with the strategy to ensure all needs are met. This not only saves money in the long-run, but also helps ensure you won’t have to adjust your strategy after implementation because you didn’t involve a certain department in planning.

2. Not having an exit strategy

When creating your plan, it’s important to have an exit strategy. Although this can be a difficult process, it’s vital to an organization’s cloud success. Even if you don’t expect to bring anything back from the cloud, it’s good to have as insurance in case something changes or comes up.

3. Conflating a cloud strategy with a cloud implementation plan

Even though they share a common word, cloud strategies and cloud implementation plans are not the same. Creating a cloud strategy is the first step, and helps to guide your implementation plan. The cloud strategy also helps determine what overall role cloud computing will play in your organization. A cloud implementation plan, on the other hand, is created once the cloud strategy is finalized, which helps everything stay on track and increase likelihood of success.

4. Believing you’ll only have one cloud provider

Your cloud needs will change as time goes on, which means your provider—or the degree to which you rely on them—may change. It’s important for business and IT leaders to devise a broad strategy that includes different types of scenarios, cloud services, vendors, and non-cloud environments. If you’re struggling to craft your strategy or are looking to optimize your current environment, we’re happy to help.

5. Assuming everything needs to move to the cloud

The cloud isn’t right for everyone and everything, and you need to do what works for your organization. A move to the cloud doesn’t mean every application or piece of data needs to be moved. When creating your strategy, spend time evaluating the potential advantages and drawbacks of moving each individual element to the cloud. Make sure you address peoples’ concerns and figure out the best way forward. Working with a third-party cloud expert, like iuvo Technologies, can be helpful during this step, since they can take an unbiased look at your current environment and determine the best choice.

6. And….more!

Cloud strategy is complicated—to say the least, and these are just a few of the mistakes you should look out for. To learn about crafting a successful cloud strategy for your organization, contact us today.