At the start of the year, many businesses like yours set ambitious goals and develop a cloud strategy aligned with those objectives. But fast-forward six months, and market conditions may have shifted, customer needs may have changed, and your original plan could now be misaligned with your current trajectory. To ensure your cloud strategy is on track, you need to perform a midyear check-in.
This blog explores the impact of a misaligned cloud strategy and outlines six practical steps to realign it with your business goals.
The impact of a misaligned cloud strategy
Your cloud infrastructure and its management directly affect your productivity, cost efficiency, and ability to meet customer expectations. When your cloud strategy becomes misaligned with your business goals, you may face:
- Unnecessary spending on unused resources
- Performance issues due to inefficiencies
- Missed opportunities for scaling or innovation
- Security and compliance risks from outdated setups
How to do a midyear cloud strategy check-in
Whether you’re working with your in-house IT team or collaborating with a cloud provider such as Liberty Center One, a midyear check-in is an opportunity to assess how well your business and cloud strategy are aligned and make the necessary adjustments. This process can be broken down into six key steps:
Revisit your business objectives
Without a clear understanding of your business priorities, it’s incredibly difficult to align your cloud strategy. Thus, the first step in your midyear cloud strategy review should be to re-evaluate your business objectives. Consider the following questions:
- Has my business entered new markets or launched new products?
- Are customer expectations or behaviors changing?
- Are there new regulations or security standards I need to comply with?
- Are my growth plans ahead, behind, or right on schedule?
Review your cloud usage and performance
Evaluate whether your cloud usage and performance meet your business needs by focusing on:
- Application performance: Assess how reliably your key tools and apps operate. Frequent slowdowns or outages may indicate the need for upgraded cloud services. Use performance dashboards or reports to track delays, crashes, or spikes in errors.
- Resource utilization: Identify underused servers, oversized instances, or duplicates wasting resources. Review your provider’s usage data to flag low-activity or overprovisioned components.
- Data management: Remove outdated or unnecessary files that inflate storage costs. Establish rules for archiving or deleting old data. Use built-in tools to detect files that have not been accessed in months or are consuming excessive space.
- Scalability: Confirm your cloud infrastructure can handle sudden spikes in demand, such as increased web traffic or user requests. Verify that auto-scaling or flexible capacity features are enabled and tested to respond swiftly to surges.
Audit costs and identify savings opportunities
Cloud expenses can add up quickly if usage and billing aren’t regularly checked. Use these tips to identify excessive spending and possible savings:
- Track resource usage: Identify which activities are consuming the most resources so you can adjust them to meet your budget goals.
- Review long-term contracts or commitments: If certain services are underused, consider renegotiating the terms or finding ways to maximize their usage.
- Look into savings plans or tools: Consider options such as scheduling resources to run only when needed, reducing costs without compromising performance.
- Check for organizational redundancy: Confirm different teams aren’t duplicating efforts or services, which can lead to unnecessary spending.
Check security and compliance gaps
The security and compliance standards of six months ago may no longer meet your needs, especially if you’ve expanded into new markets or started handling sensitive data. Review your cloud setup by asking yourself:
- Are my company’s access controls and privileges up to date?
- Is my data encrypted to prevent unauthorized access and backed up for quick restoration in emergencies?
- Am I monitoring security logs and applying necessary system updates?
- Am I meeting all applicable compliance requirements such as HIPAA or GDPR?
Align your teams and processes
Even the most comprehensive and up to date cloud strategy won’t yield results if workflows are disorganized or teams aren’t on the same page. It’s important to assess:
- Team collaboration: Look at how different departments are working together on cloud tasks. Check if people are actively using shared tools and communicating across teams. Low use of collaboration tools or repeated work can mean there’s a breakdown in teamwork and coordination.
- Skill checks: Make sure your staff knows how to use the cloud tools available to them. Track who’s taken training and how often the tools are being used afterward. When people understand how to use the tools, they’re more likely to use them the right way.
- Permissions: Verify that every team member has the appropriate level of access to perform their job — no more, no less. Your cloud management tools should include an index or directory that outlines each user’s access permissions. Regularly audit this list to confirm that permissions are current, appropriate, and aligned with your security protocols.
Plan ahead
Your midyear check-in should also focus on the future. Consider where you want your business to be by the end of the year and how your cloud setup can help get you there. This involves exploring new technologies, such as artificial intelligence to analyze and automate data management for greater efficiency.
Being prepared for the future means fewer last-minute decisions and more strategic planning as your business grows. By looking ahead, you can make smarter choices now that will set you up for long-term success.
Keep your cloud and business strategies aligned
Your cloud strategy should be an asset to your business, not a hindrance. Regular, in-depth reviews allow you to make adjustments that keep your cloud setup in sync with your evolving business goals.
If you’re unsure about your next steps or need expert guidance, Liberty Center One is here to help. With our specialized expertise in cloud solutions, we are uniquely equipped to tackle your specific cloud challenges. Contact us today.