Updated on February 4, 2021 by Jim Heisman
The Covid-19 pandemic has forever changed the “go to the office” work paradigm and virtually overnight the paradigm shifted to a “work from home” model for non-essential workers whose jobs do not require physical presence. Firms will never return to the pre-pandemic normal; employees will insist on home working and mobile flexibility and question the necessity of air travel and in-person meetings one IT leader told Forrester.
But how can companies cost-effectively enable remote workers to productively, collaboratively and securely work from home? “By devising and executing a comprehensive cloud strategy across multiple platforms which provides a secure, highly available IT environment delivered wherever there is a network or internet connection,” said Jose Almonte, CTO of Outer Edge Technology. “With the advent of the widespread remote workforce, it is critical that businesses expeditiously create and implement remote working IT protocols to secure, monitor and manage end-user devices to protect the enterprise from the ever-growing cybersecurity threats that we read about on a daily basis,” continued Almonte. “From requiring endusers to use a VPN connection when accessing company data to requiring things like two factor authentication, companies have many tools available to mitigate the IT security issues presented by the remote workforce,” Almonte said.
Done Right, a Cloud Strategy Provides Companies with the Flexibility and Tools to Quickly Adapt and Operate in Ever Changing Work Conditions
The Cloud has become foundational to business transformation, differentiation, and competitive advantage. If you don’t already have a cloud strategy to focus cloud efforts on select business goals, you are likely falling behind your competition. “Organizations that do not have a high-level cloud strategy driven by their business strategy will significantly increase their risk of failure and wasted investment,” said David Cearley, Gartner Vice President and Gartner Fellow. “A cloud strategy clearly defines the business outcomes you seek, and how you are going to get there. Having a cloud strategy will enable you to apply its tenets quickly with fewer delays, thus speeding the arrival of your ultimate business outcomes,” says Donna Scott, Gartner research vice president and distinguished analyst. Remarkably, however, most organizations do not have a formal cloud strategy, although by 2022, 70% of organizations are expected to have one. Businesses with such a plan have a more coherent approach to cloud usage, optimizing resources and costs.
What is Cloud Strategy?
A cloud strategy does not mean that an enterprise must put all of its compute resources in the cloud. Rather, it is a systematic approach designed to leverage the benefits of the cloud when it is appropriate to do so for a particular application or suite of applications based on multiple considerations including business requirements, regulatory schemes, risk tolerance and the emergence of the remote workforce.
As observed by Gartner, the process of safely and successfully exploiting the cloud requires buy in and coordination of multiple parts of an organization to develop a business-driven decision framework supported by best practice IT models that help standardize cloud strategies across the organization while remaining flexible enough to meet the unique needs of different use cases and business units. Notably, developing a successful cloud strategy requires expertise in and deep subject matter knowledge of the three traditional infrastructure models, public, private and traditional on premise to inform the analysis.
Indeed, Gartner observes that:
A Strategic Shift to Infrastructure Brokering is Needed
A key issue for the modern infrastructure team is to determine whether and how private cloud computing should be used. This includes the use of:
- Virtual private cloud services from public cloud providers
- Exploitation of managed private cloud services supported by service providers
- The creation of dedicated on-premises private cloud environments
Related Article: 8 Reasons Why Your Business Needs to Be in the Cloud Now
Once you have a cloud strategy, Gartner recommends that you continue to evaluate it to ensure the cloud usage is primary, prioritized, and promoted. Cloud environments have significant benefits. They enable worker mobility, allowing teams to work off site securely. They increase stability by allowing you to add or remove resources easily without the cost and risk of investing in physical infrastructure. And they can reduce costs.
“In order to achieve these benefits, however, you need to have a full understanding of your current cloud and on premise environments as well as an understanding of the many different public and private infrastructure solutions and options available to choose from to create an optimum IT environment design to satisfy each customers’ unique requirements and objectives. Knowledgeable CSPs like Outer Edge that specialize in delivering IaaS and PaaS solutions can be invaluable resources in taking companies’ requirements and objectives and transforming them into scalable IT designs and secure cloud solutions which align with customers’ business requirements, cloud strategy and the “new normal” of the remote workforce,” continued Almonte.
Related Article: Business Owner’s Guide to Outsourcing IT Requirements to the Cloud
Find Out How Outer Edge Technology Can Help With the Creation of Your Cloud Strategy to Boost Your Business
At Outer Edge Technology, we’ve been helping businesses in virtually every industry unlock the benefits of custom cloud computing solutions for years. We pride ourselves in being viewed as an extension of our customers’ IT departments and have helped our customers formulate and execute their cloud strategies since our inception. Whether you need IT expertise but don’t have the resources for a fully staffed IT department, or need help keeping up with the ever-changing IT landscape, we are here to help.
The passionate and trustworthy experts at Outer Edge will guide you every step of the way – from cloud strategy and planning, to infrastructure implementation, all the way to maintenance and technical support.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of managed cloud services or discuss your organizational IT needs in detail, don’t delay. Contact us today by phone at 844-OET-EDGE to set up an appointment to speak with one of our experts.
