Navigating the complexities of cloud with a software defined approach

Considering the viability of cloud solutions

Many organizations have found that their digital transformation plans stalled as they have had to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the evolving structure of the workplace of the future, and the impact this will have on the technology needed to support it, navigating the migration to cloud can seem overwhelming.

Traditional data center performance can be confined by the technology or architecture in place. While public cloud platforms have addressed some of these limitations, concerns around data security and compliance requirements have affected how organizations were making use of available cloud infrastructures. The rapid development of software-defined methodologies, together with private cloud solutions, enabled the virtualization and automation of previously limited functionalities, and changed the narrative of cloud migration.

Migrating to a software-defined cloud solution is appealing but requires a specialized strategy to ensure the creation of a customized environment that meets your unique business requirements. While many organizations recognize cloud migration as critical to their ongoing success, they often differ in the maturity of their cloud strategies.

Typical levels of cloud strategy maturity:

1.    The inexperienced

Perhaps you had a strategy, or were initiating a digital transformation project, but faced with the challenges of the current business environment, the project was placed on hold. It might not be clear whether moving to the cloud is commercially viable and investment into new solutions may seem risky.

Next steps: Improve understanding with transparency and flexibility

Software-defined private cloud simplifies your approach to migrating to the cloud and optimizes the operation of your hybrid cloud environment. With control over where data is stored, accessed and how it’s transferred – and visibility across multiple clouds – your transformation strategy can be more clearly defined and accelerated.

2.    The overwhelmed

You’re excited about leveraging all that cloud has to offer, but it’s proving to be more complicated now that you’ve started your journey. You may be uncertain about whether you have the necessary skills in-house and how compliance and security requirements affect migration.

Next steps: Software-defined strategies simplify the complex

The ability to control data storage, along with the appropriate security and compliance measures, can enable automation, reduce deployment times and ensure costs are predictable with as-a-service models. Service-level management can ensure goals are being met during migration projects and protect against preventable setbacks.

3.    The trailblazers

Current challenges only accelerated the start you made before the pandemic disrupted the working world. You have everything in place, but you’d love to have your team focusing on data analysis and further innovations rather than the day-to-day operations of your cloud solution.

Next steps: Leveraging transferrable skills

Highly-skilled team members can get buried in the day-to-day operational management of hybrid cloud environments where their potential to initiate innovation is lost. Using software-defined networking and cloud strategies to automate and streamline your cloud operations can free in-house experts to work on implementing more complex initiatives. Cloud platform familiarity and experience can transfer across platforms, eliminating the need to hire new people. 

A clear blueprint to transform your cloud environment

As your business continues to grow and change, your cloud solution should provide the flexibility you need to meet those evolving challenges. Whether your focus is on defining your optimal cloud environment, improving operational benefits or enhancing innovation, the advancements that software-defined private cloud offers can provide the customized solution you need.

To learn more about how software-defined private cloud could help your organization achieve your cloud migration goals, talk to one of our experienced consultants.