Cloud Adoption Framework: understanding your motivations and goals

Prefer to read our insights? Here’s the full transcript of our video: 

Gina: Hi again and welcome to the Azure 101 mini-series, we are glad to have you with us. Last time we looked at the Cloud Adoption Framework or CAF.  

We looked at what it is and why many organisations intentionally use it to successfully adopt Cloud and more specifically, Azure.  

In this episode we are going to be exploring the first sections in a bit more detail and then in the next episode, we’ll look at the next phase of Plan.   

Now, these first two phases form the foundations for your Cloud adoption because they will highlight both where you have been, so you have an accurate inventory, as well as where you hope to be and in what sort of timeline.  

So, onto strategy, which is an important one because this will define the why of using Cloud.  There are several things an organisation would need to consider for building a full strategy. 

So, Sam, do you want to start running through them now? 

Sam: Thanks Gina, firstly, the organisation should consider their readiness to migrate to Cloud.   

The common misconception here is that this can be answered straight away. However, you may need to consider other parts of the strategy, like defining the team to answer your current questions around cloud readiness.  

Next, the organisation would consider all the motivations it has to migrate to Azure. This isn’t always just a positive reason such as to allow your application to have global reach, it may be that you are moving away from a negative. For example, you may have had multiple power cuts on premise and your application needs consistent access.   

Once you have your motivations, you then need to know what the outcomes are.  

if we take a quick look at the Microsoft CAF documentation, we can see some of the motivations. These are:  

• Data centre migration. 

• Scaling quickly and easily to meet demand.  

• Taking advantage of innovative technology – This could be services like Microsoft Fabric, Synapse Analytics, or even Azure Kubernetes.  

The good news is, if we keep looking, we will see that in alignment we will have business outcomes that are linked to the motivation. This is where we find the Business Outcomes template which we showcased in our last video.  

Lastly, the organisation considers creating the cloud centre of excellence. 

This, in effect, means ensuring key stakeholders across the business. From CEOs to finance, sales, and senior developers, are involved in aligning the entire organisation to technology adoption and not alienating a business unit. 

The strategy will outline who is in each team that makes up the cloud centre of excellence and include team roles, existing skills, and new skills that are needed for Azure operations.   

The excellence team will execute but also update the business on the strategy.  

So, Gina, I’m sure our viewers are curious. What’s one of the main motivations we see organisations moving to Azure for? 

Gina: Certainly, the biggest motivation we are seeing is in innovation.   

When done correctly, innovation can yield significant benefits for businesses. Many companies when thinking of innovations are focusing on effectively using their existing and net new data and embracing data democratisation.   

Put simply, they are looking at how their organisation makes their data work for them, by making it accessible for everyone in the business regardless of technical skills.  

Sam: That makes perfect sense, but CAF doesn’t just stop there, it also helps businesses define what partnerships are needed and when. They will help with areas like: 

• Identifying and resolving skill gaps. 

• Providing guidance on best practices.  

• Suggesting and supporting adoption of Microsoft programs and incentives to drive your business forward. 

Let’s take a look at the RACI template we discussed in our last video.  

We can see that the template has allocated the responsibility for each task to a cloud team. Whether this is being informed or being held accountable.   

To ensure accountability, the organisation will need to enable their workforce. Column I shows the skills and Microsoft certifications, ranging from fundamental exams like AZ-900 for executives and sales staff to advanced exams like AZ-204 for Solution Architects and AZ-400 for DevOps.  

All of this is possible using a Cloud Solution Provider or CSP such as Grey Matter. We won’t go into the details of a CSP on this video, but why not check out our website where you can find out all about the CSP channel through Grey Matter. The link is on your screen now.  

So that’s it for this episode then thanks for watching. Next time we are going to be looking at the Planning phase.