The transition to consuming IT as a service is accelerating rapidly across all industries. Paying for the services and infrastructure you need when you need it is a game changer for organizations that want to reduce upfront expenditures and ongoing maintenance for the infrastructure they need to run their business. APEX Cloud Services with VMware Cloud delivers this and more, addressing customer’s challenges and helping them achieve their business objectives. This exciting release changes the game for adopting a powerful on-premises cloud platform.
We have a lot of experience working with customers who are adopting their cloud strategy and realizing the benefits as they mature. We’ve learned many lessons on what works, what doesn’t work, and what organizations need to do to be successful in operationalizing their cloud and using it to achieve outcomes.
APEX Cloud Services with VMware Cloud makes it simple for an IT organization to order additional compute, similar to how they would consume public cloud resources. So, how do we bring that simplicity to the business stakeholder?
Cloud of Dreams
If there is one truism about cloud we’ve found over the years it’s that “if you build it, they will come” is simply not true. Many organizations have spent countless hours of effort to create brand new greenfield, sparkling, artisanal cloud platforms and they expect this hard work will be rewarded by consumption. While this is a great start towards cloud adoption, there are other areas organizations need to focus on to drive adoption.
Developers and other business stakeholders of the cloud need their data in the cloud before they’re willing to use it. We help organizations drive consumption of their cloud platforms by migrating data and workloads first. Once these workloads are moved to the cloud, net-new workloads will be deployed there as well.
Batteries Included
Of course, migrating workloads into the cloud on its own is not enough to drive consumption of your shiny new cloud. A cloud is only as successful as the services and functionality that if offers.
Remember as a kid when you unwrapped that toy you had been wanting so badly only to discover the dreaded “batteries not included” message printed on the box? Cloud platforms are not that different. When you unwrap your cloud and take it out of the box, it needs to come with those batteries.
In this case, those batteries include the automations and integrations that your organization needs. It needs to be integrated together such that it meshes seamlessly with the organization’s IT workflow and lifecycle. It needs to have automated services that provide a seamless experience that helps developers and other stakeholders get what they need when they need it. Finally, it needs to have a populated service catalog to enable end-users to start consuming the cloud on day one.
A shiny cloud with blinking lights in the data center and a login prompt to an empty service catalog just won’t cut it.
A Square Peg in a Square Hole
We all know that organizations are not adopting cloud because Gartner says they should or because they read this awesome blog post (though I’ll still believe that’s all it took). Organizations adopt cloud to achieve the agility and flexibility they need to solve their business problems and satisfy their customers. With that said, not all workloads are created equal, and neither are all clouds.
The truth is, it’s best to figure out the right cloud for each application or workload or even set of data. A key benefit of APEX Cloud Services with VMware Cloud is that it has multi-cloud built in, allowing simple workload portability to the customer’s cloud of choice. This allows us to help customers determine the best cloud for their applications and help them get those workloads where they’re best suited to run.
A (Road) Map to Treasure
Most organizations have a goal of adopting and embracing cloud as they know they will need it to meet the needs of their business. But many aren’t sure the best way to get there, which applications they should run in the cloud and aren’t sure where to start. As the saying goes, “A dream without a plan is just a wish.” We can’t wish cloud strategy into being and we can’t wish cloud adoption within an organization.
Dell Technologies Services has developed and honed our process for helping customers create this strategy by using an “As-Is/To-Be” methodology. We help the customers understand what today looks like, where they need to go in the future, and then develop a long-term strategy to get there. We’ve helped many customers develop this strategy and set them on the right path to cloud success.
APEX Cloud Services with VMware Cloud is going to change the game when it comes to the way organizations manage and consume cloud infrastructure. And Dell Technologies Services has the value-added professional services I’ve described here to help customers craft a cloud strategy, drive cloud adoption, and achieve the success they need to meet the needs of their business.
This post is the first in a series where I’ll be discussing some of the key lessons we’ve learned in helping customers adopt and scale their cloud platforms, going into more details on each topic above. I hope you’ll join me on this ride to cloud success.
Learn more and get connected with Professional Services for APEX.