In large companies, cloud computing is a transformative shift where the

greatest challenges amay be more about people, process and politics, not
technology integration.

Business and IT leaders are bombarded with cloud computing

hype and promotion. Yet very little is said about how the cloud
affects the evolution of the IT organization itself. Enterprise
cloud adoption is a transformative shift where the greatest
implementation challenges are often more about people and
process than technology integration.
Agents of change, especially in large enterprises, must
overcome various forms of resistance. This includes
organizational fiefdoms and the IT silos that evolved with
them. These four organizational change strategies can help IT
departments fight fear and inertia as they move to cloud
computing:

IT Change Strategy #1: Use Tiger Teams To

Break Down IT Fiefdoms
While no one is shocked that IT silos can hinder cloud
adoption, you may be surprised how quickly youll encounter
resistance. For example, setting up IaaS (Infrastructure-as-aService) offerings for your first private cloud will likely involve
separate groups responsible for storage, computing,
networking, platforms and security. Coordination among these
groups is already difficult and you'll quickly find that many
cloud vendors have product interoperability issues that cause
documentation gaps, integration problems and
incompatibilities. Teams will have to escalate issues through
multiple vendors, causing long delays and strains between IT
fiefdoms not accustomed to relying on each other.
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The key is for siloed groups to share activities across

traditional boundaries. To encourage this, leading companies
have created Tiger Teams: small cross-functional groups of
skilled, respected and entrepreneurial-minded workers. They
should be experienced enough to navigate their home
departments to accomplish needed tasks, politically astute
enough to marshal resources and enterprising enough to push
projects to completion. And they need a strong sponsor who
can provide political cover and help break through entrenched
resistance.

IT Change Strategy #2: SWAT Away Analysis

Paralysis
One large financial institution implemented a cloud strategy
with an incumbent vendor that claimed to offer the right
strategy and products. The firm waited too long for proof
points and had vastly disappointing results. When it tried to
bring in other cloud vendors, they merely added confusion to
the existing failed effort - leading to analysis paralysis and the
inability to decide on the proper next steps.
Unfortunately, this scenario is being played out in many large
enterprises. If you cant afford a year of paralysis, create a
SWAT team.
Smaller and more discreet than a Tiger Team, a SWAT team is
quietly let loose to get something done. It emerges only
when it has a concrete working model to integrate with the IT
ecosystem for evaluation. Because it runs small, fast and
dark, a SWAT team can be easier to initiate than a Tiger
Team. A SWAT teams goal is to break the paralysis and create
a tangible model that everyone can improve. Building a SWAT
team is relatively cost effective, especially compared to the

opportunity cost of spending a year just trying to decide what

to do.

IT Change Strategy #3: Challenge Legacy

Obstinacy
Many organizations cling stubbornly to legacy applications
and platforms, often including proprietary applications
running on no longer supported platforms. While some groups
may propose porting those applications to a modern,
standardized, platform and as-a-Service offering, legacy
zealots may claim that's too risky.
But there are many different techniques for cloud migration,
including some require little to no re-architecture efforts. One
size does not fit all when it comes to migrating applications to
the cloud.
That's critical, because the benefits of eliminating nonstandard platforms and infrastructure in favor of lower cost,
cloud-based service offerings are too important to ignore.
Because cloud computing promises automated processes that
lower costs and speed cycle times for application provisioning,
maintenance, patching and updating, cloud-based IT service
costs will almost certainly decrease over time. Legacy system
costs, meanwhile, typically continue to creep up. Many times,
simply running numbers can help overcome emotional
objections to changing the legacy status quo.

IT Change Strategy #4: Challenge Habitual

Inefficiency

Most organizations existing IT processes and governance

approaches are the result of years of layering of systems,
technologies and process exceptions. Todays cloud initiatives
present a significant new opportunity to improve process
automation and implement new governance best practices.
That will likely breed resistance based on the idea of, if it isnt
broken, dont fix it. Don't buy it. The process has likely been
broken for years.
Part of the resistance is political, as people within the IT
organization understandably worry about positions being
eliminated or particular fiefdoms losing prestige and power.
The misperception may also exist that automation is fraught
with risk.
But the real risk lies in not doing anything.
While some positions may in fact be eliminated and other
roles may change with a move to the cloud, this is far better
than the alternative. Sub-optimal IT efficiency can lead to
lower enterprise productivity, a loss of competitiveness, lower
profits and ultimately the risk of wholesale outsourcing of IT
operations.

Successful Organizational Change Management

Addressing organizational change is vital to ensure the success
of enterprise cloud-computing initiatives. By incorporating the
right approach and building strong arguments to overcome
resistance, you can help your organization make the changes
necessary for successful implementation of enterprise cloud
strategies.