The cloud computing market is exploding with possibilities as new players emerge and take the market forward with them. Hence, organizations need to evaluate their existing cloud IaaS systems to ensure that their efficiency remains at par with others.
Things to consider
As a part of building its validity and ensuring ongoing environment to the business, the IT team should take an inventory of IT systems outside the control of its department. Once the systems are inventoried, the IT team should look for the following criteria.
For existing cloud IaaS deployments that pose a security or compliance risk
It is necessary to audit the type of data that is being held in the IaaS platform. The data needs to be checked for financial or personally identifiable information that can be subject to regulation. This kind of information can be used to cause reputational or financial damage if accessed from outside a normal controlled environment.
For existing cloud IaaS deployments that lack a clear business case
The reason for the existence of the IaaS deployment must be understood and the pilot projects or proof of concepts that are no longer being utilized must be dropped. The organizations should ensure that there is clear ownership for the IaaS infrastructure, and strong life cycle management.
For existing systems which, if moved to the cloud, could result in tangible business benefits as quick wins
These systems should be used in a more agile way, saving capex. The environment should be checked for their ability of rapid scaling in order to meet the business or customer requirements.
Learn from the best practice cloud IaaS deployments
Many successful cloud IaaS deployments can be taken up as models for future usage across the business. They can be helpful in providing hidden details, which can only be learned through extensive use so that they can be evaluated thoroughly over some amount of time.
The work of IT teams does not stop just after evaluation of the systems. They should also review their findings with the related application manager and line of business leader, and undergo learning and championing exercises.