Pitfalls within cloud implementations.

The companies’ move towards cloud applications and

cloud solutions is not only a short-sighted trend. Using cloud computing, business leaders get more

‘bang for the buck,’ including faster innovation, more flexibility, more interchangeability of

software providers, more focus to the end-customers and end-users, and less technology

dependency. The cloud subscription model includes all technology and its operation 24x7; many

of the topics that made implementation programs fail in the past (see the Five Pitfalls)are no risk

factors anymore during cloud implementation programs. However, cloud software

implementations are not risk-free. There exists one dominant risk area that needs to be managed:

the integration between different cloud solutions (multi-cloud scenarios) and the integration to

backend systems on-premise. Technical knowledge and operational experience as we know from

any data center operation are essential.

Preparing the IT Operation for Production. Any successful software implementation, be it on-

premise or in the cloud, includes the preparation for production. Layers of the support organization

might have to be established and prepared. Notably, the cutover phase and the HyperCare phase

require special attention. While the project implementation organization might be still available

for a short period of time, all their skills and experiences from the implementation phase will

dissolve together with the project. The long-term focus and the strategic charter of the support

organization come into the center to ensure an incident management process for quick problem

resolutions during the HyperCare phase and the Standard IT Operations phase. It provides a

smooth IT operation and some fantastic end-user experiences.

Best Practices—And More. Best Practices are highly valuable pieces of advice from people and

their experiences. Best Practices often manifest in learnings from ‘worst practices’ and failure

situations. While I provide in this book many Best Practices for program management, cut-over

projects, and transition projects, I also added some own experiences with regards to ‘worst
practices.’ Additionally, any IT or business leader tasked with program management for software

implementations can pull significant value from the sign-off criteria for go-live. The comprehensive

checklist covering “Digital IT Transformation” provides all project items that need to be handled

correctly to run massive digital transformation program successfully. This chapter is a must-read

and a must-follow for any program or project manager.

Digital Strategies. The domination of information technology starts with the vision and strategy

about specific usage scenarios for business processes. And I mean here explicitly business

scenarios that benefit from technology. From the technology side, everything is possible. Therefore,

to avoid that leaders drown in a technology lake, I provide some examples for digital strategies of

companies and their businesses. In my strong opinion, the personas who obtain the ultimate benefit

from any digitization need to be in the center of all attention. This chapter covers my digital

experiences from different industries, such as insurance, high tech, fashion, and retail