The future of on-premises and the cloud

Any organization transitioning from on-premises IT infrastructure to Public Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). will spend some time working within a hybrid model. There’s no magic switch you can flip to instantly migrate everything from your data centers to the cloud. But how long can (or should) they coexist?

If you plan to use hybrid infrastructure for an extended period of time, my advice is don’t. While it’s impossible to avoid a hybrid deployment during a transition period, most organizations are best served by committing fully (or as much as possible) to cloud IaaS and following a plan that will get you there over the course of two to three years gradually brings there.

Why companies are moving to the cloud

One of the main reasons for undertaking a cloud IaaS migration is the existing talent pool for several reasons. First, the pool of those with the expertise to properly maintain these devices and systems is shrinking as aging on-premises hardware and networks age. At this level, it’s not uncommon for professionals to either retire or change careers, and there certainly isn’t much younger talent with experience working with, say, older hardware from IBM or Sun Microsystems. Longstanding knowledge within an organization is very valuable, making it both expensive to replace and costly to lose.

With “younger” talent coming out of school and more cloud-focused, cloud IaaS is where a company wants to be if it wants to attract and retain newer employees. The goal is to develop, nurture, and (hopefully) retain talent, and that’s becoming increasingly difficult for a company just provides on-premises infrastructure and associated tools.

There are different skills at play when considering on-premises and cloud infrastructures. For example, the toolsets used to manage and support on-premises hardware and network devices are typically different than those used in a cloud environment. These include differences in monitoring, performance management, and deployment support. And I’m not just talking about differences in terminology for how these tools work; Cloud IaaS management and security tools tend to differ significantly in function and use from on-premises tools.

The 3 main disadvantages of a long-term hybrid model

It’s theoretically possible to go with a hybrid setup forever, but unless you have an unlimited budget it doesn’t make economic sense for an extended period of time. Here’s why:

• It requires additional administrative support. With a hybrid model, you need professional system administrators who support on-premises and in the cloud. These teams handle things like patching, monitoring, failover, backup, and recovery. This is more than just extra work; it requires additional knowledge – and probably additional tools.
• Hard costs reach a tipping point. At some point, the physical footprint supporting your on-premises architecture — likely built years ago when it made commercial sense — is no longer sufficient for the required ROI. Imagine a couple still living in a big house after the kids have moved out. The house may be nice, but it’s not very efficient. You’re essentially paying for storage space that you don’t need or use. Your needs have changed, but you’re still paying for the entire house. Eventually, the overhead will be distributed on a smaller basis, so the unit cost will increase.
• Different policies. When an organization has both a cloud team and a non-cloud team, it has essentially told its employees that they are on either the varsity or junior varsity team. I’ve spoken to too many customers who have unknowingly caused this issue, which can cause resentment within the team. When the company says, “We’re cloud IaaS first,” expect everyone to want to be on the cloud team. If the company says the future is in the cloud but wants IT staff to continue managing on-premises, what will those staff be doing three years from now when their peers are in the public cloud? How are they retooled and retrained? Organizations need to be aware of the problems that this type of situation can cause over time.

As with most things, it depends on the people

Organizations should consider what is required to support their on-premises and cloud IaaS based on the talent available. If you hit a certain level based on size and scope and need 24/7 coverage – essentially everything Businesses in this era need this level of support – how many engineers do you need to cover all your different systems 365 days a year?

There are certainly organizations that have recruited a team of smart people who have stayed over time, but that team eventually realizes that even having a life outside of work is difficult. It’s not just the sheer hours, but the constant stress of waiting for that call. Planning activities is always a problem because you know you are in charge. If something does happen, it could cost you a weekend. Ultimately, this insight impacts innovation – you can’t expect people to be on call every week and then also implement the next software/hardware solution that drives the business forward.

Ultimately, a hybrid model is inevitable when transitioning to cloud IaaS, so the idea is to make that transition as efficient and cost-effective as possible. With that in mind, here are three steps to get the ball rolling:

1. Include everyone involved in the discussion. Technical leaders should partner with CFOs and other executives to identify and explain why each step of a cloud migration makes business sense.
2. Conduct a full TCO analysis. Analyzing the cost of a cloud migration requires a lot more diligence than just using the online calculators provided by the major cloud providers.
3. Create a three-year roadmap. Create a plan for gradual cloud migration based on business priorities and ensure that plan is continuously driven.

Most would agree that migrating customer-facing and internal systems comes first; that’s where the “big bang” happens and that’s where ROI is generally achieved. Where it is not is made in file systems or network devices. However, if you run out of money or time before you complete the migration of these aging systems, you’re stuck with a suboptimal solution and business could suffer.

Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution that works for every business, and these are just some of the points you need to consider. The path to public cloud may look different than a peer or competitor, but the fact remains that limiting the time you spend operating under a hybrid model will almost always give you the best chance of success.

Michael Bathon is Vice President & Executive Advisor, IT at Rimini Street.