Governing the cloud: How to drive innovation through digital integration

This is the second article in a two-part series about cloud computing. The first article ran in July 2014 issue and focused on building trust in the cloud.
From sales and marketing to HR and supply chain, business units within organizations are taking full advantage of cloud computing services. Without IT’s involvement, however, these units may be adopting the cloud without fully understanding the potential risks, consequences and associated costs.
To achieve an effective cloud strategy, organizations must institute a proactive partnership between business units and IT. Through open, honest conversations about needs, capabilities and resources necessary to meet objectives and expectations, IT and business units can align to create interoperability and simplicity within the organization.
Cloud governance model
Alignment starts with senior leaders developing a strong point of view that embraces cloud services as a way of supporting their business units. From contract negotiation to establishing key performance indicators in vendor management, the shift in responsibilities that comes from cloud services changes IT’s role within a business from operators of technology to governors of systems and processes. And it requires establishing a cloud governance model that everyone must adopt.
To more efficiently and effectively integrate the cloud, the model must span the three pillars of people, process and technology, and encompass the entire cloud life cycle, from identification and configuration to migration, management and decommission. 
Six domains
A robust cloud governance model should also address six domains:
Finance management. Integrating cloud services will shorten financial and business planning cycles. Organizations should consider appointing a cloud finance subject matter professional who understands the total cost of ownership of cloud services, can track service consumption and provide cost transparency.
Cloud service provider management. It’s imperative for organizations to have a properly integrated business ecosystem that enables providers and consumers to work within well-defined boundaries. Organizations should understand who is accountable for managing cloud services within the organization and establish a framework by which IT and the business have a clear understanding of the performance metrics and contract requirements with cloud vendors.
Portfolio management. Governing a cloud portfolio necessitates understanding the organization’s cloud landscape and implementing a repeatable and standardized process for cloud investments. Organizations should consider aligning their organizational portfolio more broadly to determine additional opportunities and risks associated with adding a cloud portfolio.
Integration/interoperability. Organizations will want to implement a comprehensive set of governance procedures to provide integration and interoperability from resource and technology perspectives.

  1. For cloud adoption to be successful, it needs to align with the overall enterprise architecture. As such, organizations need to clearly articulate the vision and goals of stakeholders through the cloud enterprise architecture.
  2. To sustain cloud service operations, organizations should establish service desk training. This is vital to ensuring a seamless user experience. Clear organization and assignment of authority will set the scope for the appropriate management systems.

By using this cloud governance model as a foundation, organizations can create a framework that drives innovation and lowers risk. Through collaboration between business units within the cloud, employees will be empowered to use emerging technologies and develop more efficient processes that may help to better execute a business’ strategy and meet organizational goals.