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When it comes to recognizing what it takes to prepare your IT infrastructure to make the most of the cloud, we have given it quite a bit of thought.  Early on, Logicalis’ cloud experts identified what we call the IT Transformation Journey, a literal blueprint for IT transformation that can help organizations prepare to implement cloud computing in a way that benefits them to the fullest. And we’ve been honored to once again be named among the top 100 Cloud Service Providers in Penton’s fifth annual Talkin’ Cloud 100 report for our focus and thought leadership.

What we discovered early on is that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to the cloud and cloud services.  Organizations need to determine the right cloud solution for their specific business needs, and they require options ranging from private and hybrid cloud to public cloud offerings.  They also need a variety of task-specific cloud services including disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS), Cloud Storage for Backup, and backup as a service (BUaaS), as well as some method for viewing, uploading and controlling all of their cloud resources from a single point of view. Not every cloud provider can do these things. Some cloud providers, for example, are not equipped to protect enterprise data from loss, which is an extremely important point when considering a cloud partner.

Perhaps most importantly, we learned that it’s not about what’s popular in terms of cloud computing, but what is necessary to help you define the specific cloud services that will result in the best alignment between your IT and business needs.  Because we operate every day in the corporate space, we have seen time and again that the cloud offerings we help you identify and implement must absolutely meet the rigorous demands and regulatory requirements common to enterprise environments.

If you’d like to learn more, explore five important steps that can help you assess your company’s vulnerability in the cloud, then read about the key steps it takes to develop your cloud strategy and examine six steps that can help simplify your move to the cloud.