In order to successfully perform
cloud migration, companies need to establish a team of experts and understand the role of the
cloud migration team.
It is one thing for enterprises to migrate some applications to the cloud platform and make calls every day, but it is another thing to perform a complete
cloud computing migration, which covers almost all aspects of the IT environment.
As companies commit to digital transformation with cloud computing as their core strategy, complete cloud migration is becoming more and more common. Through hybrid cloud and multi-cloud approaches, companies can not only use these services for end-user applications, but also use these services in storage, development, security, and other areas.
Research firm Gartner analysts pointed out in May 2019 that most companies that adopt public clouds are using cloud services from multiple cloud computing providers, and adopt them out of the desire to avoid vendor lock-in or use best-in-class products Multi-cloud strategy. Most large companies will continue to use this approach.
Enterprises' multi-cloud computing decisions are usually based on three considerations: First, they want to improve agility and avoid or minimize vendor lock-in. The second is that modern applications are created in a modular manner through design, and can adopt cloud services from multiple cloud computing providers or use services from multiple cloud platforms. The third is to unify the management and monitoring of its IT system to ensure operational control. Enterprises do this by standardizing the strategies, processes, and procedures of multiple cloud computing providers.
The "cloud first" plan launched by many companies requires teamwork and a lot of skills, and needs to ensure that they have the right participants to ensure the success of the cloud computing strategy.
Key member of the enterprise cloud migration team
(1) Administrative staff
Any migration strategy requires a leader who is primarily responsible for the success or failure of cloud migration. This may be the chief information officer, chief technology officer or other senior IT management personnel; or chief cloud computing officer (CCO), which is a relatively late executive position, mainly responsible for managing the cloud computing environment of the enterprise.
As cloud computing becomes more and more important, expect to see more companies appoint chief cloud computing officers, who are responsible for ensuring that companies get the most value from cloud computing plans while reducing risks. To a large extent, this is achieved by closely integrating cloud computing services with the business goals of the enterprise.
No matter who manages the cloud computing work, cloud computing leaders need to monitor every stage of the strategy, including evaluating the needs of the enterprise, evaluating cloud computing providers, deploying cloud computing services, and maintaining services. Cloud computing leaders should also work closely with those who manage security, availability, and other cloud computing management fields.
(2) Execution initiator
Any major technology plan can benefit from the sponsors or supporters of the enterprise, and cloud migration is no exception. Depending on the scale of the business or project, its supporters may be the CEO, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief information officer, or the entire senior management team and board of directors.
The key is that the recognition of senior management is critical to the success of the cloud migration strategy. Without their support, funding and other resources for this effort may be more difficult.
The problem with cloud computing is that it can have an impact on almost every aspect of the business: IT, human resources, finance, marketing, sales, product development, law, customer support, and other areas. There are many stakeholders that may be affected by the cloud migration, and will have an impact on the business of the enterprise in the next few years, so it requires the full attention and support of the company's senior management.
(3) Cloud computing architect
Just as a building or internal IT infrastructure requires an architect, a cloud computing strategy also requires better management by an architect.
Cloud computing architects are workers who create and design cloud computing environments and continue to maintain cloud computing architectures. Cloud computing architects should align the cloud computing architecture with corporate goals to meet the challenges they face.
In addition, cloud computing architects also need to understand IT infrastructure, internal service level agreements (SLA), various cloud computing technologies, programming languages, laws and regulations, and network security issues.
Cloud computing architects must work closely with other team members to ensure that the design meets the needs of stakeholders (such as business users). The more complex the cloud computing environment, the more important the position.
(4) Cloud computing engineer
Another important member of the cloud computing infrastructure team is a cloud computing engineer, who is responsible for many technologies related to cloud computing, including design, management, maintenance and support, which are all in collaboration with other team members (such as cloud computing architects) implemented. In fact, in some cases, cloud computing engineers can also act as cloud computing architects.
Since the work areas of cloud computing engineers include network design, storage, virtual machine (VM) resource allocation, and security, the cloud computing team may include different engineers focusing on specific areas. Including cloud computing software engineers, cloud computing security engineers, cloud computing system engineers and cloud computing network engineers.
Cloud computing engineers need to be familiar with the cloud computing service environment, software development, system engineering, web services and programming languages of leading cloud computing providers.
(5) Cloud computing system administrator
Cloud computing system administrators can provide continuous management and support in the cloud computing environment, just as administrators provide similar functions in the local data center. But in the scenario of cloud computing services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), the role of the administrator is completely different because it is no longer necessary to manage hardware such as servers. These are owned and managed by cloud computing service providers. In contrast, cloud computing system administrators focus on managing and customizing cloud computing resources to meet the needs of enterprises.
Although cloud computing architects design the overall framework for the cloud computing environment, and cloud computing engineers make sure to use the appropriate technology for the framework, managers handle the daily tasks required to keep the service running.
Cloud computing administrators need to have a deep understanding of virtual machines and cloud computing networks, and have experience in IaaS and platform as a service (PaaS) products.
(6) Cloud Computing Security Manager
Any company that starts a cloud computing strategy knows the importance of ensuring that data and applications are protected from attacks.
Although public cloud service providers are responsible for many required security (for example, responsible for the entire infrastructure), cloud computing customers have not escaped the security dilemma.
The role of the cloud computing security manager is to determine things related to enterprise cloud computing security, and to ensure that all necessary tools and services are deployed and maintained. Mainly responsible for setting up and managing access control to cloud computing resources (such as applications, development and storage).
Cloud computing security managers need to have a comprehensive understanding of the network security risks of cloud computing, including the latest threats and vulnerabilities. Considering the importance of having strong security, cloud computing security managers are likely to work with every other member of the cloud computing team at some point. Close collaboration with senior security executives such as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is also important.
(7) Compliance/Privacy Expert
In terms of available resources, having compliance experts in the cloud computing team may sound difficult. However, in today's increasingly stringent review of data privacy regulations, this makes sense.
Because there is a large amount of data in the cloud, and there are huge fines for non-compliance with these types of regulations, it is important to ensure that proper steps are taken to protect the data. This is where compliance and privacy experts play an important role. They work closely with cloud computing security managers and others to ensure corporate compliance.
Why unity and cooperation are important
Although cloud computing technology has great hopes for improving efficiency and agility, in fact, not everyone will be excited about the development of cloud computing technology, because it means change. Although many changes may be for better development, this is still a change in the way of doing things-which may encourage different opinions and resentments. This is the reason why cloud computing team members must work together. This is not only to ensure the successful migration of cloud computing, but also to promote the effectiveness of cloud computing for the entire organization.
To this end, each member of the cloud migration team must be a cheerleader to manage potential opportunities that need to promote cloud migration, such as the opportunity to learn new skills.
There is no doubt that cloud computing is fully emerging. The question is how will companies prepare to achieve leapfrog development in this new environment. The answer may lie in how well they form a team and guide the enterprise along the cloud computing journey.
