It is no secret that technology has changed the way we work, socialize and learn. Most people cannot imagine their life or career without technology. These advancements are not slowing down, and the cloud is the platform needed to support many of them.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of cloud-based technology. Within a month of lockdown, Netflix saw an increase of 16 million users, Amazon hired 100,000 people to manage demand and online video calling and messaging hit new levels for Microsoft and Facebook. Zoom, meanwhile, quadrupled its profits compared to the same period in the previous year. During this once-in-a-lifetime disruption, many organizations quickly discovered the importance of running an agile business.
Transitioning to the cloud
Businesses understand that pivoting to the cloud is critical to being nimble, responsive, innovative, efficient and current. As companies rethink how they operate, they should understand the options that are available and which are best suited for them. And they need to assess whether in-house staff has the skills to lead this endeavor.
As you consider your cloud strategy, ask the following questions:
- What, to whom and where does information need to be available?
- How secure should access be?
- How secure should information be?
- Which workloads should be prioritized for the cloud?
- Does information need to be in real time?
- How will IT be impacted?
- Do we have the resources and skills to support this?
- Should we consider partnering with a managed services vendor?
Answering these questions will help determine the best path forward.
At the highest level, there are three primary cloud deployment types: public, private and hybrid. Pre-pandemic, approximately 35 percent of cloud deployments were in a public cloud, and about 15 percent in a private cloud. Since then, the private or hybrid cloud approach has started gaining popularity, with 72 percent of respondents indicating interest in these options. The hybrid approach gives your organization the flexibility to use both the public and private clouds, enabling you to optimize the approach for each application.
You might also want to consider using a vendor’s managed services. Their expertise can be advantageous because it removes the complexity of operating and optimizing the application in the cloud.
Below are three examples of popular approaches for managed service cloud deployment:
Approach 1: Application deployment in a public cloud, like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services or Azure
This option is ideal when you have an existing relationship with one of these vendors. The advantage is the economies of scale that come with shared resourcing and infrastructure.
In some cases, though, you could find yourself with multiple contracts with various vendors, which can be difficult to manage. If this is the case and the public cloud is your preferred choice, consider the next approach.
Approach 2: The application is deployed in a public cloud and is managed through a single SLA with the managed services vendor
This approach allows you to take advantage of economies of scale and have experts overseeing the solution and interfacing with your organization, giving you the most from the application.
However, many customers have strict security and compliance requirements. In that case, you might need to use a private cloud. If so, consider the next approach.
Approach 3: Deploying the application in a private cloud with managed services
This option can deliver the high levels of security and compliance your business might need, as well as guaranteed availability. When the private cloud vendor is also the application vendor, you get the added benefits of dedicated resources, flexibility and the ability to connect with their experts. You can take this approach for specific applications and combine it with a public cloud deployment for other workloads, giving you a hybrid model.
Taking the next step
Whatever reason for your move to the cloud—relevance, agility, a refocus of IT resources or improved efficiency—partnering with the right company will help you succeed. The correct cloud partner will help you:
- Plan, assess and implement the best path forward
- Create a future-proof deployment strategy
- Develop and implement a suitable migration path
- Stay current and competitive
- Innovate and grow your business
- Complement and augment your IT team
Using application experts with cloud expertise is a logical decision. As your application and cloud strategy is implemented and managed, you will feel empowered to focus on your core business, and to meet and exceed customer expectations. OpenText™ Cloud Managed Services offers the migration and cloud expertise to help you reach your cloud transformation goals. As application experts, OpenText’s “run anywhere” approach will ensure you are on the best path forward. When you partner with OpenText to securely transition to the cloud, you’ll gain a new level of confidence—as well as realize savings of up to 30 percent in your TCO.
