Digital Future

<strong>Advice: </strong>The cloud may not benefit all workloads equally. Don’t be afraid to propose noncloud solutions when appropriate.

Myth 4: “The CEO Said So” Is a Cloud Strategy

When asked about what their cloud strategy is, many companies don’t have one and the default is often (stated or not) that they are just doing what their CEO wants.

<strong>Advice: </strong>A cloud strategy begins by identifying business goals and mapping potential benefits of the cloud to them, while mitigating the potential drawbacks. Cloud should be thought of as a means to an end. The end must be specified first.

<strong>Myth 5: We Need <em>One</em></strong><strong>Cloud Strategy or Vendor</strong>

Cloud computing is not one thing and a cloud strategy has to be based on this reality.

<strong>Advice: </strong>A cloud strategy should be based on aligning business goals with potential benefits. A single cloud strategy makes sense if it makes use of a decision framework that allows for and expects multiple answers.

Myth 6: Cloud Is Less Secure Than On-Premises Capabilities

Cloud computing is <em>perceived </em>as less secure. To date, there have been very few security breaches in the public cloud — most breaches continue to involve on-premises data center environments.

<strong>Advice: </strong>Don’t assume that cloud providers are not secure, but also don’t assume they are. Cloud providers should have to demonstrate their capabilities, but once they have done so there is no reason to believe their offerings cannot be secure.

Myth 7: Cloud Is Not for Mission-Critical Use

Cloud computing is not all or nothing. It is being adopted (and should be adopted) in steps and in specific cases.