Stage 3—Using Innovative Technologies and Expanding Cloud Usage

As the organization progresses to the third maturity level of cloud usage, it faces a series of new challenges that must be successfully managed. Depending on the degree of integration, i.e., how deeply cloud technologies are used in the various areas of the company, different requirements and expectations arise for both the cloud operating model and the aspects of cloud development and security within the cloud environment. In this crucial phase, a realignment of the organization is also initiated. The focus is on promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, which is a crucial step towards achieving the next higher level of cloud usage. In view of this new organizational orientation, a holistic, that is, a holistic operating model is required. This should be designed in such a way that it thinks and acts across organizational boundaries and departments, and includes and integrates the different needs and requirements of all areas. When considering the various cloud operating models and the drivers of their introduction, the business was primarily the initiator in the first phase. In the subsequent phase, the main focus then shifted more towards IT. However, these phases often promoted a silo cloud operating model, an isolated approach that does not include the entire organization. To reach the next level of maturity and fully exploit the potential of cloud usage, it is therefore essential to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. For this, a holistic operating model is needed that not only thinks across organizational boundaries, but also takes into account and considers the individual peculiarities and needs of the company. In this current phase, there are also two essential elements that were built up and established in stages 1 and 2 and now need to further develop. The first element refers to the use of cloud-native services in the development and operation of software and applications, as well as the associated architectures. The second element consists of the conversion and adaptation of security aspects to new models and concepts within the hybrid cloud architecture. Through the continuous development and introduction of these new capabilities and models, a clear focus of the company on generating real added value through the use of the cloud is developing. The aim is to significantly reduce the complexity in the existing application and infrastructure service portfolio, to eliminate dependencies on external managed service providers—as far as possible—and at the same time to create space and capacities for the expansion of the own ecosystem in the public cloud.