5 Cloud-computing Strategies for People and Process

One of the trends shaping cloud computing in 2020 is change management. From people to processes, modifying company culture is one of the biggest challenges organizations are facing. This can only be accomplished through constant and ongoing communication, detailed planning and ensuring all bases at every level are covered.
Working with a certified Amazon Web Services (AWS) Select Consulting Partner can help you strategically align these 5 foundational principles for more successful cloud operations.

1. Company Culture Change
   Cloud computing is fundamentally different than a traditional on-premises environment. It not only requires training, certifying or hiring people with these skill sets, but also a shift in company mindset. Upskilling your IT organization with the capabilities to build for both technological and operational aspects of the cloud is only one part of leveraging the full benefits. Aligning the cloud organization with business goals and objectives is another. Executive leadership must be fully committed to this fundamental change and all users must understand the value of cloud computing in their day-to-day roles. Future-proofing your business requires a culture change backed by proven change-management tactics and constant communication.

   Our certified AWS architects can help lift the burden of this complexity – from planning to migration and utilization. We have the depth and breadth of knowledge to provide strategic guidance, as well as the capabilities to work alongside your existing IT team or deliver ongoing management and support.

2. Asset Utilization
   One of the key benefits of cloud computing can be a variable expense. The downside is without constant monitoring, non-performing cloud assets can easily cause your monthly cloud bill to explode. Another challenge is ensuring administrative controls are in place, since anyone with access can build something in the cloud without prior budget approval. Our ManagedIT Complete™ service can help provide the visibility you need to optimize assets on a continuous basis, as well as deliver end-to-end support for your entire IT environment.
3. Cloud Service Providers Do Not Handle Everything
   While cloud-service providers, in general, offer exceptional security, they are only responsible for what they can control. The AWS shared responsibility model leaves many aspects up to the customer, including deploying, maintaining and enforcing security actions. Capital One Bank’s massive data breach last year was caused by a misconfigured web-application firewall hosted on the AWS-cloud platform. This is a prime example of why certified expertise is an absolute necessity. As an AWS Select Consulting Partner, Protelligent has proven its proficiency in using best practices when planning, building, deploying and maintaining all areas of the cloud.
4. Manage Access and Data
   Security is one area where having certified-cloud skill sets, regardless of where you are in the process, cannot be left to chance. Even large corporations with ample resources, like in the case of Capital One Bank we mentioned earlier, are not immune to the skills gap. With most businesses currently using multi-cloud or hybrid strategies, this can be somewhat complicated.

   Coordinating multi-factor authentication, assigning user rights and establishing resource-access policies across platforms is key to strong security. Organizations must also encrypt all data at rest to protect it from unauthorized access, as well as manage the correlating encryption keys to operate properly across all cloud-service providers. Last but not least, it’s critical to ensure all of your cloud-service providers’ data backup and recovery protocols meet your needs.

   Protelligent’s AWS architects can help you through the process of setting up these administrative controls. We can also help with creating and enforcing resource-access policies across your cloud environment to further strengthen your security and compliance posture.

5. Not Everything Belongs in the Cloud
   Even though great strides have been made, many companies are finding that not everything belongs in the cloud. Whether you’re working directly with a cloud-services provider or a managed IT provider, deciding which applications are cloud ready requires cloud-specific skill sets. Security issues and expense, along with integration and internal process failures caused by moving unfit applications can severely hamper performance and your bottom line. These problems can also affect user engagement, souring the culture-change process necessary for future proofing your business.

   Our certified-AWS architects are experts in planning, migrating and managing your cloud environment to help you avoid these costly mistakes.

Successfully growing your business through cloud computing is only as good as your people and processes. Partnering with AWS experts, like Protelligent, to ensure the integrity of your entire environment, both in the cloud and in the building, can put you even further ahead of the competition.
Contact us now at (855) PRO-TELL and get the confidence you need to innovate by opening up all the benefits of the cloud.