„The Top 10 Cloud Myths“ by (c)Gartner

Myth 1: Cloud Is Always About Money

Advice: Don’t assume you will save money unless you have done the hard work of honestly analyzing the situation. Utilize total cost of ownership and other models on a case-by-case basis. Segment cloud into use cases. Look beyond cost issues. Also, be certain to check with financial specialists about the implications that a switch from capital expenditure (capex) to operating expenditure (opex) may have. Don’t assume that opex is always better than capex. Keep revisiting analysis as the market and prices change often.

Myth 2: You Have to Be Cloud to Be Good

Advice: Call things what they are. Many other capabilities (e.g., automation, virtualization) and characteristics can be good and do not need to be cloud washed. Allow these strategies to stand on their own. Avoid misplaced expectations.

Myth 3: Cloud Should Be Used for Everything

Advice: The cloud may not benefit all workloads equally. Never assume that it does. Analyze applications on a case-by-case basis. Don’t be afraid to propose noncloud solutions when appropriate.

Myth 4: „The CEO Said So“ Is a Cloud Strategy

Advice: A cloud strategy begins by identifying business goals and mapping potential benefits of the cloud to them, while mitigating the potential drawbacks. Cloud should be thought of as a means to an end. The end must be specified first.

Myth 5: We Need One Cloud Strategy or Vendor

Advice: A cloud strategy should be based on aligning business goals with potential benefits. Those goals and benefits are different in various use cases and should be the driving force for businesses, rather than any attempts to standardize on one offering or strategy. A single cloud strategy makes sense if it makes use of a decision framework that allows for and expects multiple answers.

Myth 6: Cloud Is Less Secure Than On-Premises Capabilities

Advice: Don’t assume that cloud providers are not secure, but also don’t assume they are. Cloud providers should have to demonstrate their capabilities, but once they have done so there is no reason to believe their offerings cannot be secure. There are enterprises whose security capabilities are formidable, but so are the capabilities of most cloud providers. However, the security levels of cloud providers will vary. Assess your actual capabilities and your potential provider’s capabilities and hold both to reasonable standards. Assuming on-premises capabilities are more secure can lead to a false sense of security.

Myth 7: Cloud Is Not for Mission-Critical Use

Advice: Mission-critical can mean different things. If it means complex systems, approaches such as taking a phased approach can ease the movement to the cloud. Hybrid solutions can also play a key role.

Myth 8: Cloud = Data Center

Advice: Look at cloud decisions on a workload-by-workload basis, rather than taking an „all or nothing“ approach. Cloud and data center outsourcing strategies are related but they are not the same thing. Assuming that cloud is „all or nothing“ leads to the wrong analysis. Look to link cloud and data center strategies. Focus on cloud services and service interfaces.

Myth 9: Migrating to the Cloud Means You Automatically Get All Cloud Characteristics

Advice: Don’t assume that „migrating to the cloud“ means that the characteristics of the cloud are automatically inherited from lower levels (like IaaS). Cloud attributes are not transitive. Distinguish between applications hosted in the cloud from cloud services. There are „half steps“ to the cloud that have some benefits (there is no need to buy hardware, for example) and these can be valuable. However, they do not provide the same outcomes.

Myth 10: Virtualization = Private Cloud

Advice: Use the right term to describe what you are building. You don’t have to be cloud to be good. Avoid mis-setting expectations and adding to cloud confusion.