The cloud delivery model is an efficient way to run IT, but for most organizations, the IT Transformation Journey to align their infrastructure with the cloud model isn’t a simple task. There are six steps distinct steps that present a logical order in which to proceed—with each step building upon the last:
- Component Integration: Component-based architectures tend to be siloed around specific technologies and architectures—compute, storage, applications and networking. From this point, the real IT Transformation Journey begins.
- Virtualization: Virtualization has taken IT to new heights from which a whole new set of opportunities come into view. IT pros can do things they couldn’t before—such as centralized control of distributed environments.
- Converged Infrastructure: Servers, storage, networks, applications and management—all the technologies the enterprise uses today—have evolved to the point where they can be converged into a single entity.
- Protection Services: When thinking about data protection strategies—both in and out of the cloud—it’s critical to examine recovery time objective and recovery point objective (RTO/RPO) needs, regulatory requirements and the budget.
- Automation & Orchestration: Automation and orchestration alleviate the amount of time CIOs spend on technology management. Automation scripts day-to-day tasks (moves, adds and changes) while orchestration automates the deployment of new resources and workloads.
- Cloud Computing: When the data center is fully virtualized, converged, automated and orchestrated, the company is ready to realize the benefits of cloud computing. And IT is ready to run at a predictable monthly cost while key personnel are free to focus on how technology can help the businesses succeed.
Every company is somewhere along this path as it works toward the business agility, cost efficiency and service improvements the cloud offers. To find out exactly where you are you along the IT Transformation Journey, take our quiz at http://ow.ly/El8ck.
And to take the next step, a Logicalis Cloud Readiness Assessment can help you define where you want to go before you start: http://ow.ly/El8e5.