Cloud Preparation Plan

Developing your strategy

Before creating your cloud strategy, it is important you consider everything that can influence it. Typically, this will include:

• your business motivations, challenges and desired outcomes
• government strategies and policies
• your digital estate (services, applications, infrastructure, etc.)
• your data – specifically your obligation to both protect and share it
• compliance and regulatory requirements
• your skills and capacity to deliver your desired outcomes.

The process of creating a cloud strategy may seem like an onerous task. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that large, highly detailed documents result in better outcomes. In reality, they are inaccessible and seldom used.

To the contrary, you should create the simplest cloud strategy you can that fully meets your needs. The purpose of the strategy is to clearly communicate your objectives for cloud adoption and your approach to using cloud to individuals across your organisation. Therefore, the content should be clear, concise and actionable.

The remaining sections of this document guide you through the considerations described above, resulting in the definition of your cloud strategy and a first pass rationalisation of your digital estate.