The vision is clearly defined as a business case. Now, start, staff, and secure the success of your cloud programme. Find out 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
      1. Key Achievements
      2. Setting up the Cloud Programme
         1. Sponsorship and Funding with Realistic Expectations
         2. Managing Risks
      3. Attracting the Right Mind- and Skill Sets
         1. The Cloud Programme
         2. The Broader Organisation
      4. Putting People First
         1. Training for Everyone
         2. Experimentation and Up-Skilling for Everyone
         3. Culture and Metrics
      5. Determining the Build-Out Principles for Cloud
         1. Build-Out Strategies
            1. Building out Regions within a CSP
            2. Building out CSPs
         2. Bridging CSP Gaps
         3. Buying versus Building
      6. Getting Into the Details
         1. Selecting CSPs
         2. Assessing and Resolving Dependencies
            1. Corporate Services
            2. Teams and Processes
         3. Application Inventory
      7. Recording Outcomes: The Cloud Guidebook
   8. Iteratively Building the Delivery Pipeline
   9. Iteratively Executing the Delivery Pipeline
4. A Cloudy Future

Starting the Cloud Programme

With the vision clearly defined as a business case in the Cloud Manifesto, the next step is to start the cloud programme by first securing its sponsorship and funding. For the cloud programme, a realistic management of expectations and risks is crucial.

An honest self-assessment of the available skills then allows to bring motivated and skilled domain knowledge experts on board who can help shape the details and drive the programme forward.

Starting with full time employee hands-on enterprise architects who fundamentally understand distributed computing and enterprise architecture, the core team can then be augmented with CSP experts. Early extended team members allow to develop and establish “cloud advocates” within the broader organisation.

Putting people first, training everyone, unlocking experimentation and up-skilling, as well as using the right culture and metrics makes the cloud programme all about the organisation’s employees.

Determining the build-out principles for cloud then not only clarifies regional and CSP specific build-out strategies but also the organisation’s stance on bridging CSP gaps and, more broadly, on buying versus building in general.

Getting into details then grants the cloud programme sufficient lead times to resolve potential problems, thereby significantly increasing its chances of success. Areas not only include selecting CSPs but also — and especially — assessing and resolving dependencies. These range from corporate services and teams and processes to the existence of a corporate application inventory.

The Cloud Guidebook then captures all definitions, frameworks, assessments, metrics, data points, decisions, and rationales behind the cloud programme’s setup in terms of funding, risks, governance, people strategy, build-out principles, CSP selection, and dependency management. This provides the reasons as well as the course for all future activities.

Key Achievements

Find out more about it in the next article.

So, How Do You Start the Cloud Programme?!

While the above Worx for Me!™ when it comes to starting the cloud programme, 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!