Guest Post By Rick Blaisdell, CTO ConnectEDU

Perhaps to recap some of the things that I have written about during the year, I would now like to propose a set of best practices for a cloud computing implementation, the ones that I believe are crucial. Here are the 4 most important aspects to determining the success of such an IT project:

• Security: I will start with this, since it still seems to be the most debated about topic when it comes to cloud computing implementation. Keep in mind that the managed enterprise provider you choose has specialists dedicated to the security of your servers which are available 24/7. They are responsible for both the setup and the ongoing maintenance of your cloud – regardless whether it is public or not. Think how much trouble, time and money it would cost you to hire these specialists, to setup, monitor and maintain your own system– it does seem simpler and more efficient to have security in place when paying for your cloud services, doesn’t it?
• Choosing the cloud provider: Here, there are some crucial points to be kept in mind: choose a vendor which is renowned in the industry AND make sure its offering fits the needs of your organization. Ask for customized service and remember that the more growth you sell to your provider, the more space to negotiate you have.  After selecting the vendor, make sure to ALWAYS have a Service Level Agreement in place – check it with your lawyers, as you can never be too cautious about your company’s crucial data.
• Scalability: This is one of the main reasons that people migrate to the cloud: when you need a flexible and dynamic environment. In order for the cloud application to be functional you need to make sure your application is multi tier and you have load balancing solutions in place, which might not even be available with the selected cloud providers basic options, so these most likely will require additional expenses. However, once implemented correctly, this initial investment will be quickly be realized once your utilization significantly increases.
• Evaluation: Perhaps this is not something that I stressed enough in my previous articles. There are several criteria for evaluating how successful a cloud implementation was. First of all, was the migration of the project on time and on budget? Then, is it financially advantageous? Did you manage to reduce ongoing costs as originally planned? Obviously, there should be nuances when defining the marks of success, perhaps your main goal was to modernize the IT infrastructure, so it all depends on the initial objectives.

What about you? What would you consider to be the main criteria for evaluation? Are there any other relevant topics that should be included here or you would like to find out more about? I am looking forward to reading your comments on what other parameters you consider when thinking of the success of a project.

Check out more from Rick at http://www.rickscloud.com/