Architecting for Scale, 2nd Edition

Chapter 12. Getting Started Architecting for Scale with the Cloud

Awareness and knowledge of the cloud has grown significantly in the last several years. It wasn’t that long ago that “using the cloud” was something only progressive organizations considered doing or otherwise was limited to startups looking to reduce capital costs in infrastructure utilized.

But it did not take long for enterprises to realize the value of the cloud. Acceptance of the cloud by all but the most conservative enterprises in the last few years has made using the cloud mostly mainstream. Or at least the desire to adopt the cloud is now mostly mainstream.

For many enterprises, though, finding success in the cloud is still a daunting challenge. Too often, organizations set overly high expectations for the benefits of migrating to the cloud while underestimating the amount of work required in the migration itself and the impact the migration has on the culture of their company. An unfortunate result can be a vicious cycle of blame, finger pointing, and grasping for something—anything—that could be considered a victory.

When they find it, organizations may decide they’ve had enough and stop the migration process before they can take full advantage of the cloud. But by putting off real reform, they won’t realize the cost and innovation benefits that drove the cloud migration project in the first place. As migration costs balloon and promised features, functionalities, and applications fail to materialize, ...