Cloud computing: The unknown world, are you ready?

It is obvious that the benefits of a cloud falling into reality now are quite tempting. You've probably heard about the advantages and features of cloud computing in countless speeches, industry forums, and articles: cost savings, flexibility, scalability, and the ability to turn capital spending into operational spending. However, there is a related issue that has hardly been mentioned: Are you ready for the benefits of cloud computing? This is an important issue, and I also often refer to customers in the Asia Pacific region. Many companies with large IT departments are often less thorough about their operations before embarking on a cloud computing transformation, and they do not plan for a new business environment brought about by cloud computing. Although cloud computing solutions can bring more value and flexibility to the enterprise, if the enterprise itself is not ready to make the appropriate adjustments or changes, such as the expected return on investment (ROI) calculation, lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and other benefits will be contrary to expectations. When considering cloud computing, CIOs must first answer the following questions: 1. What is the enterprise's existing infrastructure and its support model? 2. How does the existing infrastructure match the business requirements of the enterprise? 3. Is your enterprise infrastructure a DIY model? Is there a component for managed services? 4. What is the best way to transform a particular infrastructure? 5. Should a slow and gradual approach be taken, or should a sudden "big bang" be adopted? 6. What management and security policies do your business follow? 7. What is the interdependence between business applications and expected changes? Answers to these questions will give you and your cloud service provider a critical understanding of the cloud. Even if there are exciting business events, such as the need for infrastructure consolidation, the challenge of updating a system that uses a cycle end or providing 24x7 support, the correct cloud-mode deployment still depends on the answer to this self-assessment. These answers will guide organizations to choose the most appropriate cloud model-public, private, or mixed-and the most appropriate component and implementation time. Once CIOs have identified the enterprise's internal environment and alternative cloud solutions, external factors also need to be considered. Compliance, business continuity, data protection, and response time requirements are equally important, and will play an important role in determining cloud patterns and controlling enterprise requirements. While these may not be as important as the need for infrastructure transitions, it can have troubling consequences if CIOs ignore these factors. The initial readiness assessment is more important than the achievement of commercial profits. All the aspects that CIOs need to assess include: existing infrastructure, data centers, networks, application authorization, and Transition and transition, service delivery methodologies, and compliance requirements. Speed and range are important considerations. If the assessment is dragged too long or insufficiently comprehensive, it may lead to a reassessment. This means that additional costs will be incurred and may even jeopardize business cooperation. Orange Business Services China regional CTO Liu Xin points out that cloud customers in Asia-PacificAttaches great importance to the ability of gradual transformation. They opted for evolution rather than revolution, allowing them to move smoothly from their existing infrastructure to the new delivery model, making them "agile" in resource planning and provisioning. They seek transformation, but they also want to minimize the disruption that affects existing patterns and to be flexible enough to adapt to new cloud patterns to better meet their business needs. Over the past few years, Cloud solutions and their service delivery have matured. Previously, businesses only considered proprietary private cloud infrastructures to support their mission-critical systems, and the public cloud was used only for integration and testing. This is changing. Today's businesses use dedicated and virtual cloud infrastructures for core applications that require stringent security and performance assurance. Asian CIOs are increasingly considering hybrid cloud models, which makes it more necessary for them to carefully plan how to transition and transition. It is critical to assess the impact, as the cloud delivery model will evolve dynamically to meet business requirements. Cloud computing is like an iceberg, and the ongoing "cloud discussion" is just the tip of the iceberg, with more or unknown areas "simmering". Migrating to the cloud is not an all-or-nothing across, nor is it "now or never". Cloud computing is a journey, and careful planning is an important step in ensuring success.