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What is the Cloud Maturity Model and How Does It Improve Cloud Compatibility?
A cloud maturity model helps assess an organization’s readiness to use cloud services and outline steps to improve cloud security based on how much infrastructure it has in the cloud.
Cloud-computing technology has evolved and become more accessible over the last two decades. Most organizations are opting to build their entire infrastructure in the cloud and the rest are migrating their legacy tech to it. And for these latter companies, there are a lot of options from which to choose, each catering to very specific audiences.
But at the same time, many enterprises are struggling to make the shift and are often faced with roadblocks. The cloud maturity model (CMM) is a tool to help organizations devise a better migration strategy and improve cloud compatibility.
A CMM is a methodology organizations can use to assess the state of cloud readiness. It evaluates where the organization is at in utilizing the cloud for completing business—and by considering the company’s objectives—it defines where it needs to be.
A cloud maturity model organizations can build a cloud-migration strategy. It is used for gap analysis and to understand how the organization can improve its cloud infrastructure. Even if the organization has an existing cloud infrastructure, a CMM will help evaluate the inefficiencies or weaknesses as the cloud is scaled up.
Often when organizations begin a cloud journey, they fail to properly gauge the resources needed for it. They often fail to design goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for their strategies. In many cases, companies resort to vanity metrics—measurements that look good to the outside world but do not help with understanding performance in a way that informs ongoing strategies—when they should use KPIs that promote organizational objectives.
A cloud maturity model offers a stepping stone or starting block for organizations on their cloud journey. It helps enterprises:
A digital transformation project usually occurs in the following stages.
During the first stage , the organization is just getting started with its digital transformation initiative, devising the plans, and taking stock of what they have and need. At this stage, the main challenge is to get management support and raise awareness throughout the enterprise. The organization will also have to allocate funds for the initiative and start making purchases.
At Stage 2, the organization should have a clear goals roadmap created. The project team should start the groundwork to identify how they can move their legacy architecture to the cloud.
At this point in the process, the organization may have a difficult time clarifying its approach for a digital transformation initiative and how to migrate to the cloud. As the project progresses, the management may have concerns about the cost, the ROI, and the timeline.
In some industries, there may be issues about how this shift will affect security and compliance.
At this stage, the shift to the cloud happens. The organization may have a clear plan but still face implementation challenges. All the apps are moved to the cloud and by the end of this stage in digital transformation, the organization’s infrastructure will be cloud-based.
At Stage 4, an organization’s digital transformation becomes a continuous cycle, where optimizing the cloud infrastructure—making it it more efficient—is ongoing. Instead of ad-hoc or opportunistic processes, the cloud processes are highly documented and new changes are made based on defined protocols. The goal of this stage is to continuously optimize the cost of the cloud and improve customer satisfaction.
LearnWhere Your OrganizationIs on the Cloud MaturityScale
Figuring out where your organization is at in terms of cloud maturity helps you devise a plan to move forward. Talking to an expert may help you with this in your journey to find a solution that works. These are the different stages of cloud maturity for various organizations.
At 0, the organization is completely unprepared for the cloud. Typically, the company is reliant on on-premise or traditional infrastructure, and the organization has not yet considered moving to the cloud.
At this level of maturity, the organization has explored the cloud, but the processes are not well defined. The possibility of moving existing apps to the cloud or replacing them with a cloud equivalent has been explored.
At level 2, the processes for moving to the cloud are well-defined and repeatable. But instead of a universal approach over the entire organization, these processes are applied opportunistically. Whenever a new solution is needed, or when an app is moved to the cloud, these processes are used.
There’s a documented approach to the cloud that is followed almost always. Cloud services are integrated into the workplace and automated to a large extent. All activities are performed systematically and consistently monitored.
At this stage, the company is fully up and running on the cloud. Cloud services are used daily in a systematic manner. Different types of clouds are used for different use cases. The organization monitors the cloud to promote continuous improvement.
Here the organization is managing the cloud efficiently and making continuous improvements based on available data. Different workloads and use cases on different clouds are managed seamlessly and efficiently.
Assessing your cloud maturity level is the first step to digital transformation. Organizations must allocate resources to get a detailed overview of their current state and what they must do to get to the next stage.
