Move to the cloud vs cloud transformation
By Nicolai Klausen, Senior Cloud Architect at Fadata.
By now, the old discussion of the difference between “digitization vs digital transformation” has evolved into a discussion on “cloudification”, or, in other words, “the move to the cloud vs cloud transformation.”
Back then, Information Technology was still only about certain processes.
Winds of Change
When I went to university to study computer science back in 2001, there were discussions on how to utilize the abilities of Information Technology (IT). Back then, IT was still only about certain processes. For example, investing in what already existed like paper workflow. This was especially true in industries with a heavy paper tail and strong requirements for integrity and consistency. Banks had for a long time been pioneering digitalization of the old paper workflow, to enable faster and more cost-efficient ways of running their business, but let’s be honest, even though it seemed like a revolution, it was more of an accelerated evolution.
Many of them didn’t really change anything in what they did, they “just” became so much faster that those who didn’t step on the digitalization train and kept standing back on the platform, vanished into the past as the train left the station and moved into the future. Did the banks save money and increase their earnings by digitizing the paper workflow, yes! The banks paved the way for the rest of the financial industries and along with them, the rest of the world soon followed.
Napster 1999, which not only digitized the distribution of music but also tried to transform the business around it.
Very few companies did back then really try to transform the way we did business and lived our lives. But some did, like Napster 1999, which not only digitized the distribution of music but also tried to transform the business around it. Napster did not have the legal groundwork in place, so they got sued and closed in 2001. The legacy of Napster resulted in companies like Spotify in 2006 and Netflix streaming in 2007, which like Napster, not only digitized the distribution, but also utilized technology to transform ownership of music and video. If you want to be a successful company, chances are, that you are pasted the point, where you discuss the difference between digitalization and digital transformation, you are either born a native digital company or you have at least done the digitalization and are doing many kinds of digital transformations, to enable new ways of doing business.
All of them are therefore talking about how technology can be used for transformation…
Asking the Right Questions
When we in Fadata talk with both our current customers and potential new customers in the insurance industry, they are like the banks and the rest of the financial industries — fully digitalized — and have been so for many years now. All of them are therefore talking about how technology can be used for transformation of the way they do business.
Here comes the Cloud. All of them are looking at it as one of the means to achieve such a transformation. In parallel, the question cannot remain the same if one is to expect more. As a natural progression, the “digitization vs digital transformation” is to become the “move to the cloud vs cloud transformation.”
But why is this even a question? First of all, the cloud is not omnipotent. It is not this magical realm where the businesses’ pains are no more. As a matter of fact, there is no cloud. Yes, you read this correctly — the cloud is just someone else’s computer. In a nutshell, to have cloud or to be in the cloud is to be able to execute certain actions. For instance, the ability to pay-as-you-go or to have infrastructure components, packaged and integrated for your needs in order for you to focus on the core of your business — to be checked. In that regard, what the cloud has become is the feeling at the back of your mind that everything else on the periphery is being handled as it is, leaving you with the leverage to pinpoint pressure points which would require more load.
The cloud is not omnipotent.
Being Cloud Native
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation defines being Cloud Native as the empowerment, which organizations gain through cloud native technologies,Move to the cloud this allowing them to run scalable applications in dynamic environments. “These techniques enable loosely coupled systems that are resilient, manageable, and observable. Combined with robust automation, they allow engineers to make high-impact changes frequently and predictably with minimal toil.”
However, being cloud native with immutable infrastructure, defining the infrastructure as code or software, in a vendor-neutral setup is putting a lot of strain on the traditional operation teams. Combined with the requirements of automation, resilient, manageable and observability is putting a lot of strain on the traditional development teams.
Doing cloud transformation is not only about technology, but also the people…
The Stakeholder Dilemma
While the idea of operating in the Cloud is enticing, the number of stakeholders involved, who often have quite diverse kinds of stakes to be managed, is big. This time around, it is not only those whose job may become obsolete in the business sector due to optimization. There are also many traditional system administrators and developers, who stay back on the platform and do not learn the new ways of working. Coupled with an even larger misalignment of language between the stakeholders, it becomes evident that technology is not to be taken solely as the key to one’s successful business model.
Doing cloud transformation is not only about technology, but also the people, whose role will change. From my perspective, it seems unlikely that a successful cloud transformation can be done without implementing a collaboration model like DevOps — no, DevOps is not a department or a team, it a collaboration culture. In Fadata we have chosen to implement the DevOps culture, using the Google SRE model.
photo of the model
To many organizations, it can be a big change in their work culture. To introduce something like the Google SRE model, where DevOps is really a culture and not a department can have its implication on the whole organization structure.
Conclusion
Since the dotcom days in the 00’s, the speed of getting marked shares has dominated the Technology space. The prospect of winning the market sometimes means that the expensive hobby of just doing a lift and shift of the basement into a cloud provider can be the preferred way even though it costs more. However, how long this “recipe for success” will last? The latest trends are telling a rather different story. Either way, one thing is clear — cloud computing has presented a different rhythm to how software is made available and distributed.
