Key Considerations for 2018

Many companies are just beginning their transition to the cloud, while others are well on their way. Regardless of where you are in your journey, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind as you continue on your transition:

• The cloud allows companies to centralize and manage big data more effectively than ever before. Technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning can create opportunity for businesses to aggregate data and gain new, valuable insights about their customer base’s buying and spending behavior, market trends and more. It’s important to note that artificial intelligence is as only smart as the people behind it. Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that, when combined with human analysis and instruction, can pave the way for businesses to make decisions much more effectively and become smarter on how they execute their business plans.

• The intersection of edge computing and the cloud is going to be a topic that will continue to gain focus on 2018. The edge will bridge both the customer premises and the cloud together, providing the performance and speeds needed to support highly distributed applications. This includes technologies on the forefront of innovation such as augmented reality, smart screens, robotics, drones and much more. These technologies will create more endpoints and require high bandwidth and low latency response times. This is where the intersection of cloud and edge will play a critical role in how we process data and provide customers with near real-time experiences.  Without the edge and cloud each playing their own critical role, many of these technologies could not perform at the speed and performance required to be successful for business applications. 
  

• Cybersecurity must be a top priority for all businesses moving to the cloud. In fact, cybersecurity is still a major concern for many companies when looking to make their migration to the cloud. Regardless of where you are in your journey, changes and enhancements to your security architecture and policies is essential.  You need to ensure you have the tools, people, and processes well aligned to provide end to end protection. No two businesses are alike; however, it’s important to start by reviewing your cybersecurity posture, which may result in the need for significant changes to your internal architecture.  Additionally, consider solutions like VPN to help you protect access to your cloud services. Automated threat management systems can provide real-time insight and flag irregular activity that could prevent potential damage. 

• The key to cloud adoption is planning and patience.  It’s critical to invest the time in creating your cloud map with a multi-year approach to migrating over time.  It doesn’t matter where you are in the process, and it’s never too late to take a step back and get it right.  Additionally, it’s important to ensure you’re basing your transformation on your business objectives.  In other words, don’t use cloud to define your business strategy – use cloud to execute your business strategy.  Lastly, invest in your people.  Cloud transformation requires new skills that may not be part of companies’ core competency.  Ensure they receive the proper training from industry experts that can help transform your business.