When it comes to deciding how involved your firm should be in cloud computing, there are a lot of unknowns for CIOs to consider. That is why it is critical to ask and discuss the appropriate questions regarding clouds. Before jumping into the cloud, every CIO should consider the following five questions:

What Will Be The TCO?  

Despite what some of the articles you’ve read claim, cloud computing’s total cost of ownership (TCO) is not zero. However, as the CIO, you’ll have to consider whether it’s cheaper to host your applications in the cloud or on company-owned servers. Few IT departments can effectively estimate the cost of running a certain application (depreciated CAPEX, OPEX, all associated labor). There’s a strong chance the cloud will be less expensive, but you’ll have to ask the right questions.

When it comes to selecting the right vendor who delivers your cloud services, it’s not necessarily in your best interest as CIO to delegate this responsibility to the IT department. This is more of knowing how to manage finances on a per-application basis. Your IT department will have to collaborate with your financial department to receive the information you need.

You’ve just transformed your risk profile when your company’s data leaves the building. First, you must ensure that the provider supplying you with cloud services is one you can trust. However, studies have revealed that most cloud vendors better protect data in their data centers than most businesses. So take the time to double-check. You’re probably in good hands.

How Will The Organization Deal With An Outage? 

No cloud service provider is perfect, and they all have outages. This is something you should anticipate. The major question is how much danger the company is exposed to and how you handle it. Because of this difficulty, many CIOs separate their cloud deployment between numerous vendors.

What Happens If Your Cloud Vendor Fails? 

Any business can fail, and your cloud vendor is no exception. This means that you must always have a backup plan in place — where would you go if your vendor disappeared? Reduce your odds of this happening to you by thoroughly checking out your vendor before signing a contract and ensuring they are insured.

Taking the first steps into cloud computing can be a major step for any business. To get started, you’ll need to do a comprehensive inventory of all of the company’s present applications. After that, you’ll need to locate a cloud provider specializing in serving your industry. Finally, you’ll need to develop a set of service-level expectations to know what you’re looking for from your cloud provider.

Key Considerations For CIOs As They Examine The Potential Role Of Innovation Accelerators Like Cloud Computing And Process Automation In Driving The Digital Transformation

• Keep an Open Mind 

New technologies are frequently met with skepticism about their applicability for real-world applications. But keep in mind that the skeptics claimed the same thing about the cloud in the early years. So, while interacting with vendors, acquire as much knowledge as possible about prospective use cases for your industry. In addition, always be open to suggestions from your colleagues on employing emerging technology in novel ways to help your company achieve its objectives.

• Insist On Vendor Accountability

It’s amazing how many times suppliers aren’t held responsible for the solutions they sell to their clients. Always insist on strict SLAs when implementing new technology, and think about the possible rewards of success for your company and the vendor.

• Ascertain Appropriate Governance

Optimizing your company’s ability to respond to the massive volumes of data created by cognitive systems, and IoT will be crucial to its success. First, however, the appropriate governance rules must be implemented to manage this data effectively and securely. Although you should explore presenting your required security requirements to the company in question and seeing how they might work with you to achieve compliance, this cannot be the vendor’s duty.

• Bring The Business To The Table

 Any new technology should significantly influence the Business. You’ll have an uphill battle trying to gain passionate approval and adoption if you don’t illustrate how these solutions can help the Business. In addition, increased money will be available if you address the Business’s final goals.

• Push for a Seamless User Experience

 Regardless of the costs, ensuring a seamless user experience will be vital to the deployment’s eventual success. If your users have trouble learning a new solution, the deployment may be labeled ineffective before it even gets off the ground.

• Focus on Security

 Security must be a top priority when starting a new project. First, consider the influence of each technology on your company’s security posture. Then, as you roll out new solutions, make sure your security rules are up to date and comply with any applicable industry or government standards.

• Dealing with the Legacy Infrastructure

 Inaction, rather than legacy, is a problem. However, legacy systems will inevitably exist in your Business, and they may or may not be compatible with the new technology you want to implement. As a result, it’s critical to create a well-thought-out transition plan for your legacy systems, to finally remove all unneeded IT complexity and clutter.

• Prepare to Take on a New Identity

 The CIO’s function is evolving, and you may be forced to wear numerous hats in the future. Your involvement with the company will grow beyond recognition as you take on responsibilities for everything from technology and information to innovation and governance.

The total cost of ownership, who will manage the cloud, the overall security of corporate data in the cloud and what happens to the data if there is a cloud outage, the financial stability of the cloud provider, and what is the best way to get started with a cloud are all questions that must be answered. Discussing the considerations mentioned above can assist decision-makers in beginning their cloud planning and research without missing out on any gray areas. Are you looking to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of mission-critical operations? Talk to us about how we can help streamline some of your most complex cloud problems.