With the rapid growth in cloud computing, its associated Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) deployments, unified on-prem and cloud operations management, migrations, and the like, you might ask yourself: “How do I ensure that my processes are ready for the future?” An excellent question, which requires some further expansion to answer.
Business Processes Change Fast
To say that a company must change its processes for a hybrid cloud management tool is brash. Companies have very particular ways of managing their IT services – both manually and partly automated – which must cater to their specific business needs.
But with these services already put in place, the challenge for hybrid cloud management tools becomes fitting in with the business side of the company: not the other way around. There is no single tool that will fit 100% into existing management structures, but you can get close!
What is true is that business processes are changing fast. Not only given the fact that IaaS and PaaS are now considered cloud commodities, but also because of the growth in businesses going ‘cloud-native’ – those without legacy on-premise resources.
A Cloud Paradigm Shift
When you move the mode of deployment away from infrastructure-centric development and move towards clouds and containers, you see major paradigm shifts.
With this radical move from traditional on-premise infrastructure to cloud and hybrid solutions, many IT service delivery and operations professionals start to worry. Rules and responsibilities change, which means that jobs are changing too. When you’re used to doing things a certain way, it’s tough to embrace change.
For example, the prospect of reducing operational costs by up to 70% using a hybrid Cloud Management Platform (CMP) tool (like our CloudController software) to automate the creation, deployment and management of hybrid IT services is easy to comprehend and ‘make happen’ from a C-suite perspective. But from the point of view of someone in IT operations, the new technology means change and implementation, which can be more challenging to get on board with.
“The Old Ways” Aren’t Enough Anymore
The fact is that the old ways won’t get you very far into the future. Companies who continue to embrace traditional infrastructure and resist change will face increasingly tougher competition as time goes on.
It’s not that using legacy platforms is somehow ‘wrong’ but companies who won’t adapt could risk being left behind by those that embrace new ways. The cloud market marches on and could leave you in the dust. Companies that adapt will thrive.
However, not all companies are ready to leap into the cloud mode of working. Sometimes, a company might want to first test the waters with Infrastructure-as-a-Service, see the effects on its operations, and later extend and migrate their complete server estate to cloud-based service deployments.
But given that we anticipate a broader move from traditional IaaS and PaaS to containerized cloud-native deployments over the coming two years, it’s clear that companies must be able to accommodate containers very soon. The wave is now building up and will crest soon!
Adapt Now For The Future
To prepare for this coming shift, IT processes must adapt – whether there’s resistance within the company or not. Companies who want to stay competitive need to embrace cloud-native deployment.
Cloud-native companies are everywhere – there’s no denying it. They’re ready to take on what the future holds. Are you?