White Paper: Selecting IT’s cloud strategy of least resistance

Cloud is changing at the speed of light. Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) say commercial public clouds present serious business-limitations including: loss of control, security and data sovereignty, latency and cost. Then, when asked about the inverse – on the barriers and challenges faced to deliver in-house cloud services as part of a private, community or public cloud model, CTOs and CIOs identify: project-risk and high-complexities due to a lack of standardisation, risk of vendor lock-in, lengthy lead times as well as a high capex.

This is a major problem. CIOs and CTOs need to realise the promised benefits of cloud computing. But with each cloud strategy alternative offering a unique set of organisational problems and challenges, which cloud strategy, AKA ‘cloud path’ does IT select..?

"The path of least resistance" refers to a scientific insight, which is that energy moves along the path of least resistance. In other words, energy moves where it is easiest to go.

This is true for IT departments selecting a cloud strategy (cloud-path) going forward; as it is for water flowing through a riverbed, as it is for blood surging through the bloodstream. Through it all, we are moving along the path of least resistance.

This paper aims to assist IT departments determine and select their cloud strategy of least resistance. Here, we will:

  1. Define cloud computing;
  2. Define all possible cloud strategy alternatives;
  3. Define all possible cloud adoption barriers and assess their association(s) to each cloud strategy alternative;
  4. Select IT’s cloud strategy of least resistance, being that with the lowest frequency of associated cloud-adoption barriers; and
  5. Provide IT with a set of recommendations based on key findings.