4 steps to jumpstart your cloud computing plans

4 steps to jumpstart your cloud computing plans


These days, cloud computing is on everyone’s minds. Businesses are rapidly continuing to join cloud networks and are finding that the right solutions for their businesses can drastically save on IT costs. Cloud computing acts as a web-based network center, where applications can be accessed from remote locations. If you use web-based email like Yahoo or Gmail, you’ve already had some experience with the cloud, as all your messages and attachments are accessible from any browser. Moving parts of your business—data, applications and more—to the cloud can be easy, and it can help you increase efficiency and help employees work remotely and with more agility. Below, we’ve listed the steps you should take to begin your cloud computing process.

1. Comprehend cloud concepts. Looking into cloud computing and exploring what it can do for your business is your initial phase. Understand what it is and how it works. Once you establish what specific applications will benefit you, you can move on to the next step.

2. Identify beneficial initiatives. You need to weigh the cloud against traditional IT delivery models. Determine which applications will suit you on cloud, and what data should be kept in your own data center. Business-critical applications can be deployed in a cloud under the right circumstances. You need a trusted environment, a way to automate the applications, and a service catalog that enables easy provisioning.

3. Explore deployment barriers. Addressing all your cloud concerns—from security to availability—is important to keep up the intended momentum of the cloud. Working with your technology partners to be sure you’re covered is an important step in getting the cloud ball rolling.

4. Design a personal roadmap. Identify the steps needed to be taken in order to move forward. The roadmap lays down the specific steps needed to realise your cloud goals. It includes gap analysis and development of high-level architecture. It covers the development of your business case and organisational models. And it covers your master plans.

Moving to a cloud-based environment alone isn’t the easiest, so HP is here to share experiences and provide expertise in any way possible.