Why You Don't Need a Cloud Strategy

CIO — Amidst the overwhelming buzz of cloud computing, IT decision-makers must sort the reality from the hype to determine where cloud might provide business value for their organizations. Cloud is an important development in the landscape of computing options—to the point that most organizations will one day use cloud or cloud-like offerings—but there's no guarantee that cloud is right for your organization right now. For example, many of the most-talked-about usage scenarios for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) entail specialized situations that few enterprises can relate to. On the other hand, there is real value, and your business may be able to achieve substantial benefit from cloud computing.

When any wave of industry hype gets fevered and loud, CIOs often ask architects to create a strategy for the new industry darling—in this case, cloud. The problem with creating a "cloud strategy" is that, by placing your strategy focus on the technology rather than on your business, it's easy to lose focus and assume that adopting cloud-based offerings is a sure path to business benefit. In reality, there are numerous tradeoffs between cloud options and traditional computing options. Nearly every cloud solution has a functionally equivalent non-cloud alternative, so to maintain focus on your business, it is best to build your strategy around the business decisions to which each type of cloud offering is directed. This approach fosters more level-headed consideration and comparison of cloud and non-cloud options, and it establishes a stronger foundation for a long-term evolution toward cloud and cloud-like options as they mature.

The three major categories of cloud computing—IaaS, platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS)—correspond to three major business decisions addressed by an organization's architecture strategies:

1. On what computing resources will I run my business?—computing infrastructure strategy / IaaS

2. With what tools will I build and run custom solutions?—application platform strategy / PaaS

3. How should I mix custom and off-the-shelf solutions?—solution portfolio management / SaaS

Rather than developing a siloed strategy for cloud, a business approach will integrate analysis of cloud and cloud-like options into each of these three strategies. Rather than asking architects to create a cloud strategy, CIOs should direct them to enhance existing strategies. This will include the development, within each strategy, of plans for evolving over the long-term as cloud offerings mature. This reframing away from cloud strategy is much more than semantics. By centering analysis and strategy on business problems and decisions, it appropriately:

1. Frames the full range of business criteria by which to compare cloud and non-cloud options.

Continue Reading