A new blueprint from Info-Tech Research says there is uncertainty within enterprise IT organizations about whether all workloads should be moved to cloud-computing infrastructure. The blueprint outlines several types of thinking found throughout enterprise IT, ranging from a cloud-centric approach in which all workloads go into the cloud to an anti-cloud approach that “avoids the cloud wherever possible.”

Various intermediate states include cloud-first strategies; hybrid, integrated, and split approaches; and a cloud-light approach that “limits the use of the cloud to when it is absolutely necessary.”

Defining a Vision
The Info-Tech blueprint is entitled, “Define Your Cloud Vision,” and states “that as various industries normalize the use of cloud services, organizations should not base their decision to migrate solely on external pressures or as a cost-saving measure. Instead, they must define the cloud's value proposition and create a vision and strategy for its implementation.

The firms says that findings indicate that organizations often “jump to the cloud before defining a vision or a clear plan to realize its benefits. Decisions were made ad hoc rather than systematically.

The lack of a consistent framework to assess workloads' suitability for the cloud has added to the challenges of creating an effective cloud migration strategy.” The blueprint also states that hybrid cloud, while often seeming to be a rational approach, comes with additional cost, administration, and constraints.

Graphic from Info-Tech.