AI & Emerging Tech

Is your IT team ready for a cloud-native IT Architecture?

Arun RajamaniRhucha•

5 June 2018|

Updated on 6 March 2019

From security to workplace culture, there are a number of determiners you need to consider before going cloud native.

As organizational ways of working are rapidly changing, an ‘anytime-anywhere’ work culture is fast becoming a norm. This shift is being propelled by emerging technologies such as cloud computing. Increased globalization and a flexi-workforce are fortifying an ‘always-on’ work environment. It is, therefore, not surprising that emerging IT technologies that can support this change are a fast-growing market.

According to Forrester, the total global public cloud market will be $178B in 2018, up from $146B in 2017, and will continue to grow at a 22% compound annual growth rate.

Companies are increasingly relying on the benefits of digital transformation to delight customers. Despite its evident benefits, fewer than half of all enterprises use a public cloud platform. In 2018, organizations the world over are expected to cross the significant 50% adoption milestone, and cloud applications, platforms, and services will continue to radically change the way enterprises compete for customers.

If you are contemplating a move to a cloud-native IT infrastructure, you need to assess and prepare for it. And this starts with knowing whether your organization is ready for this transformation.

What’s needed for a cloud-native IT:

Going cloud-native is a major change exercise at every level- infrastructure, tools and platforms, people skills, and most importantly leadership commitment. Although going cloud-native is an exciting transition, jumping onto the cloud bandwagon without due diligence has its pitfalls. The first step to cloud migration is, therefore, to assess, whether the organization is ready for this overhaul. Ask yourself the following questions before making the move:

Do you value and embrace transparency? Cloud-native IT fosters shared objectives which help the employee feel like they’re part of the same team. This is a shift from the traditional IT approach, where different teams have different goals, which creates distrust as teams are focused on whatever serves their best interest.

Are you ready for consistent environments? In a cloud-native IT, teams operate in setups that behave the same across location, team, function or role. Leaders need to understand that this is a far cry from the siloed approach where people can be found saying “It works on my machine…”

Do you view changes as assets? Traditional IT is change-averse i.e. deployments are considered to be risky and hence a lot of resources are spent in justifying change forms. In a cloud environment, employees view change as an improvement, and not as something to be scared of.

Are you ready to move from bulk delivery to small batches? Cloud-native IT is about agility wherein software is delivered in small batches. So bulk software developments and deliveries will not be the norm.

Are you open to innovation? How innovation-friendly is your company? Cloud computing aims to simplify and enhance the customer experience by leveraging diverse technologies throughout the organization. For example, a simple yet profound innovation is self-service cloud modules- they smoothen core tasks and place power in the hands of the people.

Is your IT team open to learning through mistakes? How you view mistakes is one of the cornerstones of cloud success. Are mistakes viewed as chances to spot system improvements and failures? To truly embrace the cloud, organizations must “learn to learn”, continuously improvising and upskilling.

Are you dynamic and resilient? Cloud computing demands dynamism because individual components are regularly scaled up with evolving technologies. The teams in a cloud architecture focus on recovery, while the focus in traditional IT is time between failures.

Is security ubiquitous in your organization? The traditional IT approach involves concentrating security only on the firewalls and applying patches only when they are high priority. With a cloud framework, there is security everywhere as teams have a 3R mindset: Repair. Repave. Rotate.

Fear vs. Confidence? Traditional systems create anxiety for employees, while new systems are reliable, adaptable and teachable. It also applies to people- old systems create anxiety for employees (and leaders), while new systems instil confidence.

Embracing cloud requires some readiness and preparation. If most of the answers are in line with a traditional IT approach, you as a leader may need to work towards building the right environment and culture throughout the organization. This requires time and commitment.

This article is curated based on an Infographic on the same topic.

Image Credits: BMC Software

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Author

Arun RajamaniRhucha

Rhucha KulkarniSmriti