On a high level, the cloud boils down to compute power, data storage, and on-demand services. While a geo-distributed system increases reliability and decreases latency, a wide variety of on-demand services allow users to leverage out-of-the-box solutions such as AI tools, CI/CD pipelines, version control repos, and more. The first question is, therefore, what do you want to achieve? Expected outcomes will serve as a benchmark to determine project success. Infrastructure benefit and cost analysis will ultimately lead to the right strategy for your use case.

Moving to the cloud requires a cultural change. Skillsets and processes differ if your focus is leveraging its efficiencies. The first step is to determine skills and training needs. While there may be a sense of urgency to move to the cloud, we recommend an iterative approach. There is a huge learning curve and teams will fail occasionally. Starting with a ‘minimal viable migration’ enables learning and course correction. Digital transformation requires strategic planning and will likely occur in stages.

Drastic infrastructure changes are always a challenge. Monitoring, disaster recovery, security and backup are critical parts of the implementation to ensure business resilience.