Top 10 Cloud Myths

Unpredictably, Clouds are exposed to the risks of myths. According to David Mitchell Smith, Gartner Fellow and Vice President, myths prove to obstruct innovation and often frighten us, further distracting organizations from making progress forcing a lack in innovation and overall outcomes. The most predominant myth about cloud is that it frequently saves money.

Below is a list that highlights the most perilous and deceptive myths;

1) Cloud is About Money

Research conducted by Gartner unveils that cost savings justify the motivation behind a small number of establishments using a public cloud. Saving money becomes one of the many benefits yet should not be suppositional.

Advice – Using other models on a case by case basis, utilize the total cost of ownership and access the effects of moving to Opex (operating expenditure) from Capex (capital expenditure)

2) To be Cloud is to be Good

It is believed that many tend to “cloud wash” actively calling things cloud that aren’t in fact related to cloud. As a result of cloud washing, individuals are stuck believing that if it happens to be cloud it is good and deemed negatively if it happens to be anything other than cloud based.

Advice – Keep things what they are. Several capabilities (for example; automation, virtualization) and characteristics can be good without the need to be cloud washed.

3) Cloud = Everything

In an organization where value is fixed upon flexibility, Cloud can be seen as an ideal fit.  The company must have the capability to consume and therefore pay for what is required. Unless it is cost effective, moving a legacy application that is unchangeable is not always a good candidate for Cloud.

Advice – Cloud may not be an advantage to all workloads, however don’t be afraid to put forward non cloud solutions when deemed necessary.

4) CEO’S Orders

When asked about cloud strategies, many businesses lack an understanding of what they aim to achieve by opting to Cloud. Frequently, stating they are simply following the CEO’s orders.

Advice – To begin, form a cloud strategy by identifying the company’s business objectives, highlighting any potential benefits of cloud when applied to these goals. Any potential setbacks should be included within the plan.

5) One Cloud Strategy or Vendor

The style of cloud services and current interoperability values can make the concern of regulating options less important, as those specifics are usually hidden from consumers.

Advice – All cloud strategies should focus on aligning business objectives with potential benefits. A singular cloud strategy is acceptable and makes sense, if it allows the use of a decision framework that produces multiple answers.

6) Cloud is less effective than on-premises

Cloud computing is considered as less secure. To this date, rarely have there been security breaches in the public cloud. These breaches continuously take place at on-premises data centre environments.

Advice – Don’t be hasty to assume cloud providers are less secure than on-premises nor be hasty to assume otherwise. It is the job of cloud providers to demonstrate their cloud abilities. Once this is done, don’t be afraid to believe what their services offer cannot be protected.

7) Cloud is not for mission-critical use

If one doesn’t opt for cloud computing, it is not all or nothing. Cloud computing is considered as adopted and it should be whether in small stages or in specific circumstances.

Advice – The term mission-critical has a variety of connotations. If it happens to mean complex systems, opt for a gradual approach easing the transfer to the cloud. In addition, hybrid solutions can play a major role.

8) Cloud = Data Center

Cloud decisions mustn’t rely on closing down data centres completely and relocating everything to cloud.

Advice - Consider cloud decisions by focusing on a workload by workload basis rather than taking “all or nothing” approach.

9) I want to migrate to cloud, does this include all cloud characteristics?

Most cloud migrations take place using “lift and shift” rehosting and movements that do not display the greater levels of cloud characteristics. While additional types of cloud migration (for example, refactoring and rewriting) typically offer a wider range of these characteristics, the most prevalent case for using cloud is new applications.

Advice – Distinguish between applications hosted in the cloud from cloud services. “Half steps” to the cloud have some benefits for example, the purchase of hardware would not be necessary. Although these can be deemed valuable, keep in mind they do not produce the same outcomes.

10) Virtualization = Private Cloud

A term used commonly for enabling technology for cloud computing is Virtualization. It is one of many ways to execute cloud computing. It is not always required and not always appropriate.

Advice – Be careful when describing exactly what is being built with using cloud. Cloud is not a necessity to be good. Avoid unattainable expectations and accumulating to the cloud misperception.