If you think that building a cloud strategy is difficult, think again. The world is moving towards the cloud at an unprecedented rate – the industry is going to be worth $411 billion dollars in 2020 – so it’s very important that you adopt an innovative, forward-thinking cloud strategy at your company.
But if you’re not sure where to start when it comes to Vancouver cloud services, we’re here to help. With this handy guide, you’ll be able to develop and build a cloud strategy in just 4 easy steps. Read on, and get started now!
- Evaluate The Current State Of Your IT Technology And Infrastructure
First things first, you need to sit down and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your current IT infrastructure and technology.
For example, maybe you’re looking to cut costs using cloud-based systems, but you’re not sure where to start. Creating a comprehensive assessment report can help you identify your problem areas.
Let’s take legacy software, for example. Maybe you find that you are running too many legacy environments on outdated equipment – and one of your main goals is to eliminate this costly overhead, and speed up IT processes.
Once you have identified this goal, you will be able to use cloud-based systems in order to achieve it – and eliminate the extra costs of legacy equipment and software.
- Develop A Plan That Outlines The Ideal State Of Your IT Systems
The next step is to identify the ideal state of your IT systems. Using the above example again, your ideal state would be to run all of your legacy software systems on the cloud – or, perhaps, to eliminate them altogether, and use a new system that’s more efficient.
Once you understand the gaps in your IT strategy, you will be able to start looking for software and systems that help you fill them. This is critically important – because unless you identify your current IT state, and have an idea of what you want from your IT department in the future, you may waste money on unnecessary software and Vancouver cloud services.
- Identify The Gaps That Are Preventing You From Achieving Your Ideal Systems
Now that you have an understanding of your IT systems – and your goals – it’s time to identify the gaps that are holding you back. Again, using our previous example of eliminating legacy systems, these may be:
- Complex legacy software systems
- Outdated and slow local servers
- Serious security vulnerabilities
- Difficulty maintaining software and servers
- Unreliability and difficulty maintaining proper uptime
These are just a few examples, and they may vary based on the priorities that you set in step 1 and 2.
- Create Cloud Initiatives To Close These Gaps
Once you have identified the above gaps, it’s time to take action to solve them. For example, you could partner with a Vancouver cloud services provider to run your legacy software on the cloud – they would ensure data redundancy, and that your software is properly maintained and patched.
Or, you could turn to a Vancouver cloud services company for a brand-new piece of cloud-based custom software which could run using your legacy data – but provide you with better performance, enhanced security, and better uptime.
Again, of course, your particular needs will vary, based on the weaknesses and opportunities identified in steps 1 and 2. Whatever your gaps may be, you can use strategic cloud initiatives to solve them – and meet your cloud IT goals.
Use These Tips To Build A Better Cloud Strategy!
The cloud isn’t some magic “cure-all” – it’s just another shift in how IT companies do business. So by understanding the current state of your IT systems, as well as the desired future state that you wish to achieve using cloud technology, you’ll be able to direct your budget and resources toward the right Vancouver cloud services – and achieve success!