What are the best practices for managing risks with cloud adoption?

For many government state institutions the cloud seems a scare. So a focus on security in the cloud is key to move. However, once in the cloud, there needs to be a focus on access rules for employees and consultants. How do we allow access to the tenant, how do we manage access across applications, who controls governance. Sharing practice is also key to look at even within a tenant.

The important aspects of cloud migration is to assess the readiness. However, even before that organization has to understand the reason for moving to cloud. What are the benefits of moving to cloud, total cost of ownership and risks involved in migrating to cloud. Once done applications have to be bucketed into once that can readily be moved(lift and shift), applications that can be be moved with minimum development and thirdly applications that require immense effort to move to cloud. Also analysis of which cloud service providers to be used, what kind of services to be availed is important aspect to consider.

Conduct a thorough assessment of your organization's readiness for cloud adoption. Evaluate factors such as existing infrastructure, workforce skills, and cultural readiness for change. Implement a phased approach to cloud adoption, starting with low-risk applications to build confidence and expertise within the organization.

As melhores práticas para gerenciar riscos na adoção da nuvem incluem: avaliar e entender os requisitos de segurança da nuvem, implementar políticas de acesso e controle de dados, utilizar criptografia para proteger informações sensíveis, realizar backups regulares e testar a recuperação de dados, monitorar continuamente a segurança da nuvem, adotar serviços de segurança de provedores confiáveis, estabelecer um plano de resposta a incidentes, e educar os funcionários sobre práticas seguras. Ao combinar medidas técnicas e estratégicas, as organizações podem mitigar riscos e garantir a segurança dos dados na migração e uso da computação em nuvem.

Any organisations’ cloud readiness is defined not only by its current infrastructure capabilities, business requirements, business values, CX etc., but also the regulatory standards it must comply at business, IT and Security operations levels. It is essential to note that these standards WILL be different by industry and by geographic location.

Some practices, like IT Asset management, and maintaining a CMDB, become easier in the cloud as the providers give a lot of data to help you. In addition, the provisioning automation can be used to tag for owners, application and environment type. This allows for automated risk scoring, impact and priority as well as which teams to notify or get approvals from. This means that the practices in the cloud can be more efficient and less burdensome, as long as some basic steps are taken when setting them up. Don't just blindly copy the on-premises practices for the cloud.

Establish a robust governance framework to define policies, procedures, and responsibilities for cloud usage within the organization. Clearly outline compliance requirements, data management practices, and standards to ensure consistency and accountability across cloud deployments.

Clarity in articulating the goals and objectives of your cloud governance framework is invaluable. Foster accountability across all aspects of cloud management. Establish inclusive policies and standards covering security, privacy, performance, and cost management. Enforce transparent SLAs outlining performance expectations, availability, and support for each cloud service. Implement processes for change management and incident response in cloud environments. Ensure comprehensive training for teams engaged in cloud operations to enhance understanding of governance policies and procedures.

Agreed, a governance framework is essential. But, let's change the name to, "Innovation & Governance Committee" or "Infrastructure Center of Excellence". In short, governance is a necessity for security & compliance. On the flip side, to support continually the evolving business, there is a constant need to evaluate & manage change. As this is another needed part of a good change process, often what is not, are the strategy impacts. Broadening the focus to include broader and more strategic changes & impacts helps insure tactical changes are better understood, accepted, & managed as a result. While, shifting the name to include innovation, helps shift perceptions and culture of IT and the often unseen challenges IT functions operate.

I would step back and look at the big picture and ask questions. What vendor are you working with? What cloud certifications to they have today? Under the vendors cloud certifications what are your responsibilities? What are their responsibilities for that frame work?

Have clear strategy and process around data privacy and data breach protocols. Ability purge and port services along with data and backups and SLAs should be a considered within contractual agreement.

Prioritize security considerations from the outset. Implement encryption, access controls, and identity management to safeguard data and applications in the cloud. Regularly conduct security audits, penetration testing, and stay informed about emerging threats to continually enhance your security posture.

Implement robust monitoring tools to continuously track the performance of your cloud infrastructure. Monitor key metrics such as CPU utilization, memory usage, network latency, and storage performance using tools such as Filebeat, Metricbeat, Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana or Mezmo. Implement load balancing to distribute incoming traffic evenly across multiple instances.

Optimizing cloud performance also means choosing lower tiers of service for less critical applications or services, archiving data away when no longer needed and using auto-scaling to bring up resources when needed, and removing them when not. Performance management in the cloud is very different from on-premises: getting additional resources takes minutes instead of months, so the approach needs to be 'provision minimal and scale' rather than 'provision for maximum likely usage'.

Continuously monitor and optimize the performance of your cloud resources to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Implement auto-scaling and load balancing strategies to dynamically adjust resources based on demand, maximizing performance while minimizing costs.

You need to keep in mind that even if you plan to move completely to the cloud and no longer have your own datacenters in the long term, you will be in hybrid mode for several years. This means that the tools, practices and people have to be aligned across the on-premises and cloud applications and infrastructure. Ensuring that you build a 'single-pane of-glass' for the teams will go a long way to improve their efficiency in the hybrid world.

Plan for seamless integration between cloud and on-premises systems. This involves adopting hybrid or multi-cloud architectures when necessary. Ensure that data flows smoothly between legacy systems and the cloud, and that there is interoperability between different cloud services.

Clearly define your integration goals. Determine the specific functionalities or data flows that need to be integrated between the cloud and legacy systems. Consider whether you're looking for real-time data synchronization, batch processing, or a combination. Provide opportunities for training and development to keep the workforce informed about updates and advancements in cloud and legacy technologies.

Implement cost management strategies, such as resource tagging, to track and allocate costs accurately. Regularly review and optimize your cloud spending by identifying unused or underutilized resources, and consider reserved instances or spot instances to reduce costs.

While cloud adoption can reduce IT expenses, it can also introduce hidden costs like overprovisioning and underutilization. To manage these, plan and budget your cloud expenses carefully. Track and analyze cloud usage and spending to identify inefficiencies. Tools like Cloudability, Cloudyn, or CloudCheckr are invaluable for this. Regularly optimize your cloud resources to eliminate waste. Also, be aware of vendor lock-in risks and design your cloud strategy to maintain flexibility. This proactive approach to cloud cost management ensures that the benefits of cloud adoption are fully realized without unnecessary financial burdens.

Think in archival processes for your tenant. Not all content is relevant forever, what could go into storage at less the storage price, what content would you want to keep for users to find directly. Also, think in Teams governance. Set a deadline for active teams and handle accordingly for passive teams > deletion or into archive depending on what business you are in or how your business is regulated.

Ensure proper consideration of internal support mechanisms in a multi-vendor SaaS environment. Develop a comprehensive support plan outlining procedures for managing product updates and other aspects within your organization’s SaaS ecosystem.

To manage risks in cloud adoption, conduct a risk assessment and choose a reliable cloud provider that meets security and compliance needs. Implement strong security measures like encryption and access controls. Ensure compliance with data governance laws. Regularly audit security and monitor for incidents. Develop disaster recovery plans and back-up data. Educate employees on cloud security practices. Manage user access and identities, secure APIs and endpoints, and ensure network security. Include clear SLAs with vendors and consider data localization laws. This holistic approach ensures a secure and compliant cloud environment.