CIO OPINION effective governance – something that Enterprise Architecture ( EA ) teams and strategic and technology roadmapping solutions can offer . As an example , Enterprise Architecture provides the insights to define the current state of the technology landscape , providing a starting point from which all other plans can emerge . Likewise , an integration architecture offered by EA prevents the unravelling of interconnected systems – a common risk when moving to the cloud .
It ’ s a risky business ( not done right )
What ’ s clear is that the costs of adopting cloud solutions can easily exceed the gains if not managed correctly . It ’ s a key risk for businesses and is joined by a variety of risky companions as there are many aspects to consider when migrating applications , data and infrastructure . These processes don ’ t operate in a vacuum : they are not siloed and their interconnected nature means that any disruption to data flows between them must be avoided . This means that when moving from an on-premise solution to the cloud , the risks are high and costs can spiral out of control ; CIOs often remark on how difficult such projects are and how the costs can soar .
Achieving this smooth data flow is even more pivotal in this day and age of ‘ always on ’ businesses . The modern enterprise is delicately designed , relying on carefully built and rigorously maintained integrations between applications . Even small tweaks to the architecture landscape will send ripples flowing throughout the system , disrupting normal operations and necessitating hundreds – if not thousands – of implementation and development hours .‘ Taking a breather ’ is out of the question . All stakeholders , from customers to employees , expect ‘ alwayson ’ businesses . Much will depend on the type of migration : Gartner defines and utilises the ‘ five Rs ’ – Rehost , Refactor , Revise , Rebuild , or Replace – to encompass the different types . A rehost is relatively simple , but having to refactor or rebuild systems can mean much greater costs .
Even after passing through smooth data transitions , swerving any disruptions and keeping costs under control , more risks are lurking . These come in the form of bugs and security flaws . Here , it ’ s very much ‘ test , or suffer the consequences ’.
Regardless of the migration method , it is inevitable that issues will arise if cloud services are not rigorously tested beforehand . Companies face the choice of pouring resources into extensive testing , or risking these bugs and security flaws that will take up
With this transition in full swing , over two-thirds of CIOs now rank migrating to and expanding their cloud presence as the top IT spending driver in 2021 .
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