In The initial undertaking is crucial for all IT heads while deciding on the Cloud Strategy. Besides, the case of Cloud-based Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics is highly complex for most enterprises as it still is a developing concept. However, those who have taken the initiative on the Cloud-based BI and Analytics Model have stated a few meticulous steps, which can ease out the process.
Feasibility & Viability Form the Crux
Most enterprises have made huge investments on the BI platform and this calls for a feasibility and viability study when thinking of switching to the BI and Analytics Cloud-based Model. According to Sandeep Bhagat, Principal Architect, Big Data & Analytics, Infosys Ltd., whileCloud promises the moon, the aspects such as leveraging existing investments, tool set support, compatibility and integration of existing applications needs to be analysed before zeroing down on the Cloud Strategy.
Bhagat outlines the importance of getting a buy-in from businesses. Most of the BI systems hold confidential analytical data about enterprises and hence it is important to get buy-ins from businesses to host business sensitive data on the Cloud environment. As the first step, enterprises can consider shifting routine and not critical tasks to the Cloud environment, says Bhagat.
Align with Key Stakeholders as a Strategy
Vijay Sethi, CIO, Hero MotoCorp believes that the Cloud Computing Strategy needs to be built and brought to an agreement with key stakeholders as he lays down steps that any enterprise needs to delve into.
The critical ones according to him are:
Step1: Make up your mind.
*One needs to fully understand the concepts and implications of cloud computing before taking a decision on whether to maintain an IT investment in-house or whether to buy it as a service through the Cloud.
* Understand fully the pros and cons of public vs. private vs. hybrid cloud.
*Look at the overall ROI (Return on Investment).One cannot rip and replace the existing infrastructure, but one also needs to look at short-term costs vs. long-term gains.
One has to compare not just hardware/software/licensing/implementation/maintenance costs but also bandwidth and related costs especially in case one is moving enterprise applications to Cloud. One may also need to enhance internet bandwidths significantly.
*Security, monitoring and compliance are major areas of discussion when one talks about Cloud. This should be addressed upfront and the consensus of all stakeholders must be taken before moving forward.
* TheCIO has to first make up his/her mind before undertaking this initiation and have full conviction.
Step 2: Ensure that the key members of your IT team are on board.
I think there can always be resistance from the team that is managing the current infrastructure or applications for this culture, mindset has to change and this could be perhaps the most difficult barrier in the adoption of Cloud Computing, says Sethi. The mindset in the organization not just the IT managers, needs to be in-line with the fact that there will be a transition from on-premises to off-premises computing. This is not easy. E.g.,while there is an obvious advantage in terms of the fact that someone else is managing my day-to-day issues, this has to be weighed against the fact that we are leaving the business-critical information resources in the hands of third parties.
Step 3: Draw up your Cloud Computing Strategy and come to an agreement with key stakeholders.
Sethi argues that in todays times, one has to realize that Cloud is here to stay and it is not a question of if but when and what.Not everything can be Cloud enabled, but is a question of how much. The Cloud strategy of one organisation may or may not work for another as it would need tweaking the infrastructure, the priorities, the plans, the culture and the ecosystem of the organization.
As CIO, one needs to decide on what, when and how during the development of the Cloud and be in agreement with key stakeholders, the IT team and the business. The strategy can further evolve and get refined as one takes steps but an agreement at all stages is very critical.
Step 4: Carry out evaluation of the partners involved in the Cloud cloud service providers, consultants/SIs if required, etc.
Sethi emphasizes on the point that apart from the routine evaluation we conduct for projects, one has to also focus specifically on the services being offered by providers in terms of uptime, response time, performance, etc.Focus also has to be on the implementation time, whether it will be more efficient (in terms of the time to deploy or the scaling-up of an application infrastructure) by going the cloud computing way or one has in-house capabilities.
The other steps, as per Sethi, would involve finalizing the contract- taking into consideration all areas related to technical, commercial and risk mitigation. He recommends IT managers to start small and do the proof-of-concept first and review results or make necessary adjustments and get on to the Cloud journey.
Rajesh Shewani, Technical Sales Head, Business Analytics, IBM India/SA strongly believes that IT managers should feel confident about the data being on the Cloud when they think of the Cloud-based Analytics and BI Model. IT managers need to share their data outlets, be it client related data, service data, marketing data, etc., with the service providers, which is the first step towards switching to the Cloud Model, says Shewani
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