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Understand the function of cloud strategy

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A cloud strategy team defines motivations and business outcomes for cloud adoption. They then validate and maintain alignment between business priorities and cloud adoption efforts. Your company ideally forms a strategy that clearly ties technical activities to the business outcomes. In the absence of a defined cloud strategy team, someone must still provide those functions. That same person or group then also manages changes across the project.

Typically, the following roles provide cloud strategy functions. When you define your cloud strategy team, be sure it includes many of the following roles:

  • Finance
  • Line of business
  • Human resources
  • Operations
  • Enterprise architecture
  • IT infrastructure
  • Application groups
  • Project managers (often with agile project management experience)

These roles help guide critical prioritization and discovery efforts during cloud adoption. This exploration might also trigger changes in business processes, operations, customer interactions, or even product development. When these functions are confined to IT, the success of cloud adoption efforts is often constrained. To drive true business change, business leaders should be the primary champions of this functionality. A defined cloud strategy team provides a means for involving key participants in a structured way.

Note

The organization's CEO and CIO often assign the team. Assignments are typically based on empowering the cloud strategy team to drive changes that span other organizations within the enterprise. Typically, business leaders assign cloud strategy team members based on the motivations for cloud adoption, business outcomes, and relevant financial models.

Preparation

Minimum scope

Align business stakeholders to maximize the business value of cloud adoption investments.

Whenever possible, define the business outcomes and cloud strategy early in the process. As investments in cloud adoption grow and the team sees the business values, stakeholders often become more engaged. When cloud adoption efforts are led by the business, the focus might be on an operating model and the organization.

Establish a vision

  • Adoption motivations: Document and articulate the reasons behind the technical effort.
  • Business outcomes: Clearly articulate what's expected of the technical team in terms of business changes.
  • Learning metrics: Establish short-term metrics that show progress toward longer-term business outcomes.

Build business justification

Rationalize the digital estate

Deliverable

The cloud strategy team drives critical prioritization and discovery efforts during cloud adoption. They might also change business processes, operations, customer interactions, or even product development. The primary focus of the cloud strategy team is to validate and maintain alignment between business priorities and cloud adoption efforts. Secondarily, this team focuses on change management across the adoption efforts. Ideally, the cloud strategy team delivers on the following tasks and allocates sufficient time for planning.

Early planning tasks:

  • Review and provide feedback on business outcomes and financial models
  • Help establish clear motivations for cloud adoption that align with corporate objectives
  • Define relevant learning metrics that clearly communicate progress toward business outcomes
  • Understand business risks introduced by the plan that represent the business's tolerance for risk
  • Review and approve the rationalization of the digital estate

Ongoing monthly tasks:

  • Support the cloud governance team during risk and tolerance conversations
  • Review release plans to understand timelines and business outcomes of the technical change
  • Define business change plans associated with planned releases
  • Ensure business teams are ready to run business testing and the business change plan

Meeting cadence:

Cloud strategy team members must allocate time to plan and develop the cloud strategy:

  • During early planning efforts, allocate an hour each week to meet with the team. After the team solidifies the adoption plan (usually within 4-6 weeks), the time requirements can be reduced.
  • Throughout the adoption efforts, allocate 1-2 hours each month to review progress and validate continued priorities.
  • More time is likely required from delegated members of the executive's team on an as-needed basis. Each member of the cloud strategy team should appoint a delegate who can allocate 5-10 hours per week to support ongoing prioritization questions and report on any urgent needs.

Next steps