Spare yourself some agony and prepare existing processed for the arrival of cloud. But also review and adjust your cloud programme. Here’s how.

This article is part of the limited preview of the “The Missing Cloud Programme Roadmap”, a generic roadmap for any enterprise cloud adoption programme.

1. Executive Summary
2. The Cloud and Enterprises
3. The Missing Cloud Programme Roadmap
   1. The Cloud Programme Roadmap
   2. The First Iteration of The Cloud Programme Roadmap
   3. The Unavoidable Disclaimer
   4. The Roadmap for The Missing Cloud Programme Roadmap
   5. The Manual for the Missing Manual
   6. Building the Business Case
   7. Starting the Cloud Programme
   8. Iteratively Building the Delivery Pipeline
      1. Key Achievements
      2. Constantly Monitoring Dependencies
      3. Prioritising Cloud Capabilities By Applications
      4. Iteratively Identifying Patterns to Move
      5. Selecting Cloud Compagnon Applications
      6. Setting Up the Teams
      7. Avoiding Friction for Existing Processes
         1. Two Examples
         2. Review and Adjust
      8. Recording Outcomes: The Cloud Handbook
   9. Iteratively Executing the Delivery Pipeline
4. A Cloudy Future

Avoiding Friction for Existing Processes

Even with the best intentions, patterns, cloud compagnon applications, and cross-functional incubator teams there will be frictions for existing processes. Identifying, resolving, and ideally avoiding them as early as possible is, once more, crucial to the success of the entire cloud programme.

Two Examples

A simple example is the internal charge-back model for applications or platforms, common to most organisations. While on-premise costs might be directly allocatable, the same is no longer true for most CSPs. For example,

Network charges are added as a single item to most CSP bills and support for breaking them down by consumer is sparse at best.

How these aggregated costs are eventually allocated and recouped from the corresponding consumers or the wider organisation needs to be resolved. Early on.

Another example is the still common belief that “cloud makes capacity management obsolete”. While it’s true that on-demand provisioning of resources is at the heart of the CSP offerings, the fine print usually reveals that this is done on a best effort basis. Additionally, the on-demand price is also much higher than when reserving capacity beforehand. So,

With on-demand provisioning, not only are there no guarantees of being able to obtain a resource when needed. But it will then also be more expensive than when using alternative options.

This renders a purely on-demand based resource management strategy risky and expensive at best. While the exact details might change, the overall focus on capacity management should be kept.

Review and Adjust

The conclusion of this phase is also a great opportunity to take a step back. By now, the organisation’s concrete needs are manifested and prioritised in the iteratively built delivery pipeline. Ideally, those needs should align with the objectives of the cloud programme. But then there’s always reality.

The feedback loop between the delivery pipeline and the programme objectives can and should be closed. By going back and refining or adjusting either one of them, using the lessons learned so far. The Missing Cloud Programme Roadmap always was and most likely will be an iterative process.

At this point in time, the cloud programme has already been initiating or rolling out numerous changes. With more to follow in the next phase. Controlling and adjust the run-rate of the cloud programme, using the data generated so far, is more vital than ever in order to ensure a sustainable pace and avoid a collapse.

Recording Outcomes: The Cloud Handbook

Find out more about it in the next article.

So, How Do You Avoid Friction?!

While the above Worx for Me!™ when it comes to avoiding friction for existing processes, you may have an alternative or better way.

Think this is all rubbish, massively overrated, or generally heading into the absolutely wrong direction?! Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn and teach me something new!

As always, prove me wrong and I’ll buy you a pint!