Before we can talk about the nuts and bolts of cloud transformation, it’s important to make the distinction from digital transformation. The two are often conflated, and while they are related, they are not the same—the cloud is the enabler of digital transformation. If you’re starting from scratch, cloud-native is the way to go.

This is the second in my series on the cloud. I started writing about cloud visibility and in this article, we take a look at cloud costs. If we look at the evolution of computing over the past 30 or so years, it has always been about monumental shifts in technology, which drive further and further innovation, efficiencies and – seemingly – cost reduction.

Yes, everyone is talking about the cloud, but are they actually ‘doing it’? The short answer is yes, and in stunning numbers. According to a recent O’Reilly survey, 90+% of organizations expect to increase their usage of cloud-based infrastructure. Over the next 12 months, 67% expect to shift half or more of their applications to the cloud, and 45% are planning to move three-quarters or more of their apps.

San Jose, CA, August 6, 2020 – AUCloud’s IT infrastructure has seen a 30% savings in IT capacity and a 20% improvement in performance by implementing deep IT monitoring tools. The Australian Government and Critical National Industry Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider’s improvements in results were gained through its partnership with Virtana, a leader in enterprise hybrid cloud migration and optimization.

The Silicon Review In today’s digital era, the IT organizations equipped to see and fully understand their applications and infrastructure are well poised to find, fix, and prevent performance or cloud-related issues – often before they arise. However, without expert guidance and fine-tuned solutions, digital transformation and the promise of hybrid cloud infrastructures can create unforeseen complexities throughout the process.

“If I have to pull this car over, there will be trouble!” Does this evoke childhood memories of summer adventures in the family car? It’s the same sort of dread we get when the IT budget holder turns around and threatens to pull over on our journey to the cloud or hybrid cloud. The family summer road trip may be filled with great expectations, but the last thing we want is an unforeseen disruption along the way. And migration to the cloud is no different.

I have worked at Virtana for nearly 9 years. During that time, I have had the pleasure to interact with customers, prospects, and partners around the world. The types of conversations I have participated in have dramatically shifted during that time. Back in September 2011, the dialogues were largely focused on Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure, and how Virtana could provide performance assurances targeted at this environment. Over time, the conversations have broadened dramatically.

Minimizing costs, reducing risk, and maximizing business value—all at the same time—requires a delicate balancing act. It’s not a new challenge, nor is it unique to IT infrastructures. But when it comes to the cloud, especially in hybrid cloud scenarios, it requires you to understand the performance, risk/compliance, and cost impacts of your current resource allocations and then adjust to maintain the optimal decisions to meet your SLA and budget targets.

Cloud computing is a foundational platform for modern businesses, enabling digital transformation and supporting organizational agility. The benefits of putting applications in the cloud are well documented: flexibility, scalability, and reliability with a lower capex investment.

The Cloud Is a No-Brainer… Most companies by now have a “to the cloud” initiative that’s at one stage or another of maturity. It’s a great way to make better use of all your resources—people, time, and money. And it gives you more flexibility. You don’t have to size your entire application architecture for important but short-lived peaks, such as Black Friday for retailers or year-end ERP closing for large manufacturers, to name just a couple examples.