It’s been almost ten years since I started working with cloud technologies. Back in 2011, I began my first cloud project to migrate a customer from Exchange Server 2007 to Office 365, a couple of months after Microsoft released Office 365. At that point, most of the customer’s doubts and uncertainty were related to network requirements, skills to handle the new technology, and data security. Ten years have passed, and network latency, upskilling, and security are still considered a concern and priority when adopting the cloud.
Uncovering True Cloud Benefits
Nowadays, moving workloads to the cloud has become a priority for most companies, as they seek to lower costs, as well as bring agility and innovation to their businesses. However, some organizations keep struggling to take advantage of the benefits provided by the cloud because they lack the in-house expertise or bandwidth to properly manage their new cloud instances. This has led to myths that the cloud is expensive and not as secure as an on-premises environment—not to mention the idea that moving to the cloud forces you to choose only one vendor.
But if you can partner with someone who has the experience and technical skills to handle the cloud, you’ll be able to find your way to true cost savings, increased security, and more business agility. For example, you can build some guardrails to control the budget, choose the familiar technology that you already know and have been working with, or leverage the cloud to improve the security of your workloads even when they’re running on your local data center.
Cloud providers like Microsoft and Google are now working on technologies to extend the benefits and management of hybrid and multi-cloud environments to help customers with their cloud adoption. Technologies such as Azure Arc and Google Anthos may offer many advantages to your business, including governance, control, apps modernization, security, and more.
By the way, multi-cloud solutions have become more common, and with that, the concern of having the right skills to manage workloads through different cloud providers has become more prevalent. It is a fact that price, types of services offered, the way you spin up and configure workloads, and how the environment is built all change from one provider to another. It can be cumbersome having to manage resources spread throughout the distinct clouds.
Cloud Questions that Must Be Answered
So how do you get the skills to work with Azure, Google, or AWS? And how do you know how to answer all the questions you may have about cloud? For instance, is the hybrid or multi-cloud approach better for your business? If you already have workloads running on cloud, how can you avoid blowing up your budget? Could the cloud be a solution or a problem to data sovereignty? Is the cloud able to provide the security required by your business? Would it be possible to preserve the investment already made in your local data center if you decide to migrate to the cloud?
Nearly everyone has these kinds of questions—and more—when they begin to discuss a possible cloud migration. But don’t worry. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed or make these decisions alone. As moving to the cloud becomes more of a “when” rather than an “if,” you’ll need a trusted partner to help guide you through these questions and ensure you can make a smooth and solid transition. As the cloud changes and innovates faster than you can imagine, it’s crucial that you work with a business partner that has experienced professionals, cloud competencies, and certifications. It will make all the difference in achieving your goals and expectations.
Leandro Rocha
Leandro is a lifelong learner with over 20 years of experience in the IT field, with expertise in various IT operations. He is passionate about cloud technologies, and over the past several years, he has been helping organizations to migrate and adopt cloud services.
