Getting Started with the Cloud
– Carlos Granda, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Services at RiverMeadow, says:
Cloud computing is a pervasive idea, yet many companies are struggling to either adopt cloud or realize its promised benefits.
So, what are the key barriers for companies wanting to employ cloud?
- Organizational and cultural inhibitors. Cloud does seem to affect the culture, the way things are run, people’s view of what they could have control over, and what they could lose control over. So, it’s crucial to be forward-thinking. Those who are embracing the cloud are the ones who are willing and have a culture that is used to change, a culture that is open to adopt a new technology and a new strategy to be better at what they do to support their customers.
- Pricing and transparency. There are some big challenges associated with pricing models of cloud today. Understanding them, frankly even explaining them, can be difficult. But then, there is going beyond that to actually be able to hack them up in a way that ultimately you’re getting the exact financial benefit that you’re looking for from the cloud. It’s not that straightforward. Making things easier for customers to be able to leverage the technology starts with providing a lot more visibility and providing people with the same types of tools they use internally.
- Technology. There is a general lack of understanding of what it is that organizations have internally that they need to support on the technical side. For instance, they’ve got a bunch of servers and workloads that are running. Some of those servers and workloads are going to be great to move to the cloud; with others, there’s really not going to be much ROI there and are better left alone. To get a really good understanding as to what you have, it’s imperative to put a plan together around how you’re going to migrate everything over.
Despite these barriers, I think organizations are going to start thinking more strategically about cloud and what it means to them. Ultimately, they’re going to put together an execution plan that is tactical and associated to business outcomes. All of this, I believe, will make 2014 the year that cloud adoption will hit its tipping point.
As Executive Vice President of Worldwide Services at RiverMeadow, Granda is responsible for all consulting, education/enablement and product support services. He leads RiverMeadow’s Worldwide Services team to develop cloud migration IP, methodologies and repeatable cloud adoption best practices and services, which are delivered to customers by RiverMeadow partners.
