Need to set up teams that eventually deliver your cloud products? Then create cross-functional incubator teams and accelerate your journey to the cloud.

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
      8. Recording Outcomes: The Cloud Handbook
   9. Iteratively Executing the Delivery Pipeline
4. A Cloudy Future

Setting Up the Teams

The delivery of the cloud platform as well as the migration of the selected cloud compagnon applications strongly benefits from the creation of specialised cross-functional incubator teams; empowered to do the right thing, they propel the entire programme.

These teams are comprised of SMEs from complementary domains. By working as a single teams, they are collectively able to quickly provide appropriate solutions for the problems that arise.

Moreover, the idea is also that team members work on iterations before eventually being offered to move to other teams as in-house consultants. As cloud SMEs, they are not only able to progress their careers but to also accelerate the adoption of cloud across the organisation.

Each cross-functional incubator team consists of direct and indirect team members. The direct team should include SME architects and engineers from the following areas who each focus on, but are not limited, to

• Cloud Programme. Provisioning of cloud capabilities, including providing guidance and best practices around consumption of and migration to the cloud
• Cloud Compagnon Application. Migrating the corresponding application to the cloud, including updating or transforming the application itself
• IAM/PAM. Providing identity governance and access control solutions
• Logging & Monitoring. Creating observable solutions
• Quality Assurance. Meeting or exceeding quality standards on a repeatable and consistent basis
• Operations and Support. Creating operable and supportable solutions
• Cybersecurity. Provisioning secure solutions with respect to the supply chain, the application, and the cloud itself
• Audit. Creating fully auditable solutions

The extended team then should also include SMEs from the following areas who, again, each focus on, but are not limited, to

• Legal. Supporting the resolution of novel legal challenges and flagging potential problems or risks
• Compliance. Advising on the creation of compliant solutions and providing rapid feedback for non-compliant ones
• Finance & Accounting. Helping to prepare the organisation adapt to potentially new spending or cost allocation models; this also helps to soften the blow for the inevitable Bill Shock
• Sourcing. Supporting the fast-tracked provisioning of vital third party solutions
• Early Adopters. Providing rapid feedback to the team

In general, this approach aims to minimise turnaround times, facilitate knowledge sharing, and develop skilled experts who can iteratively accelerate the adoption of cloud across the organisation.

Avoiding Friction for Existing Processes

Find out more about it in the next article.

So, How Do You Set Up the Teams?!

While the above Worx for Me!™ when it comes to setting up cross-functional incubator teams, 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!