FEATURE : CLOUD SOLUTIONS
“ Existing IT personnel can be trained and equipped with cloud skills ; however , onboarding new cloud specialists could help bring a new and a fresh perspective , albeit challenging in the current cloud manpower market shortage .
“ Similarly , there needs to be an updated cybersecurity plan that addresses the new architecture and prevent security gaps from arising as a result of the migration .
Selecting the right vendor is another decision that needs to be taken with meticulous consideration . Cloud outsourcing contracts tend to be more economical when they span longer periods but that could also lead to vendor lock-up ,” he said .
Kilzie added that CIOs should also be mindful of network connectivity issues in all of their territories of operation and scale up the network capacity following performance modeling and testing .
Farrington said : “ There are three key pitfalls that we commonly see being made . The first is not taking a holistic approach . Be that not aligning the cloud strategy with the business strategy nor the security strategy , forcing all cloud initiatives towards a single cloud platform , or taking a siloed approach that doesn ’ t consider the entire digital and physical estate . Organisations are looking for a seamless , secure digital platform that empowers success , not a bunch of siloed initiatives that are difficult to integrate and protect .
“ The second pitfall to avoid is viewing security as an add-on rather than an integral and critical enabler to cloud success . Cloud is all about agile workflows . Trying to add security into a streamlined , automated workflow after its creation is at best going to slow things down , at worst break it entirely and demand a complete redesign to meet risk and compliance requirements . Security must be built- in by design but knowing how best to do that , across diverse cloud environments , is no small task . Hence why the biggest barriers holding back cloud adoption are expertise , compliance , data security and risk . Partnering with a cybersecurity leader can turn cloud into an opportunity to simply , and easily deliver the same , if not higher , cyber resilience everywhere .
“ The third pitfall is thinking of cloud as simply a new data centre . Cloud is not just a new technology , it ’ s any number of unique platforms and services that are generally remote . It demands a new way of operating , it demands a new culture , mindset , tools , and practices . It demands greater collaboration across teams , even new team structures , to truly achieve the benefits that cloud offers . A Cloud Centre of Excellence ( CCoE ) is a best practice approach to achieving this . Bringing together technology , security , process , training , finance , sales , marketing , and more , a CCoE helps build global alignment and empower distributed implementation ,” she said . p
Adil Kilzie , Head of CX , Enterprise Solutions and Cloud , KPMG
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