Cloud strategies should pass a "so-what" test to determine if migrating workloads to the cloud truly benefits the business and moves it closer to its goals. Leaders should scrutinize cloud proposals and only migrate suitable workloads rather than taking a wholesale approach, to ensure internal resources are used efficiently and stakeholders' needs are met.

1. “DOES YOUR CLOUD STRATEGY PASS THE ‘SO-WHAT’ TEST?: Whether you have Chief
Digital Information Officer (CDIO) on your business card, or even the more traditional CIO
moniker, chances are you’ve had a business case cross your desk to sign off a
transformation to Cloud. As tempting as it might be to jump right on it and let it take on a
life of its own, tying up valuable internal resources by carving out an inevitable path to one
of the big providers, does it really stand up to the kind of scrutiny it actually deserves by
qualifying it against the context of where your Business actually needs to get to? Internal
and external stakeholders may welcome seeing ‘Cloud’ at least somewhere in your strategy
doc but they, and your customers, may also thank you for at least running the ‘So-What?’
test against going wholesale down that road, so to migrate only those workloads that really
are suited to that target platform.”
Richard Illman is Account Director with Bell Integration with over 20 years in the IT sector.