Prerequisites for an effective cloud adoption plan
A plan is only as effective as the data that's put into it. For a cloud adoption plan to be effective, there are two categories of input: strategic and tactical. The following sections outline the minimum data points required in each category.
Strategic inputs
Accurate strategic inputs ensure that the work being done contributes to achievement of business outcomes. The strategy section of the Cloud Adoption Framework provides a series of exercises to develop a clear strategy. The outputs of those exercises feed the cloud adoption plan. Before developing the plan, ensure that the following items are well defined as a result of those exercises:
- Clear motivations: Why are we adopting the cloud?
- Defined business outcomes: What results do we expect to see from adopting the cloud?
- Business justification: How will the business measure success?
Every member of the team that implements the cloud adoption plan should be able to answer these three strategic questions. Managers and leaders who are accountable for implementation of the plan should understand the metrics behind each question and any progress toward realizing those metrics.
Tactical inputs
Accurate tactical inputs ensure that the work can be planned accurately and managed effectively. The plan section of the Cloud Adoption Framework provides a series of exercises to develop planning artifacts before you develop your plan. These artifacts provide answers to the following questions:
- Digital estate rationalization: What are the top 10 priority workloads in the adoption plan? How many additional workloads are likely to be in the plan? How many assets are being considered as candidates for cloud adoption? Are the initial efforts focused more on migration or innovation activities?
- Organization alignment: Who will do the technical work in the adoption plan? Who is accountable for adherence to governance and compliance requirements?
- Skills readiness: How many people are allocated to perform the required tasks? How well are their skills aligned to cloud adoption efforts? Are partners aligned to support the technical implementation?
These questions are essential to the accuracy of the cloud adoption plan. At a minimum, the questions about digital estate rationalization must be answered to create a plan. To provide accurate timelines, the questions about organization and skills are also important.
Next steps
Define your cloud adoption plan by deploying the template to Azure DevOps Services.