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In 2017, the “cloud” word is not new anymore, but still relevant and a big part of the IT transformation process. Here are some numbers that highlight the importance of cloud adoption:

The importance of cloud was reaffirmed when the big tech companies like Amazon, SalesForce, Google, Microsoft, IBM, VMware, Dell, Red Hat, Oracle, and HP joined the race to become “cloud” providers and get a piece of the market share. Enterprises across the world also knew that in order to compete and survive in a technology driven world, IT transformation was imperative: one must join the cloud revolution.


One of the main problems with Cloud adoption is, without a doubt, the lack of a Cloud Strategy. Gartner estimates that “less than one-third of enterprises have a documented Cloud Strategy”. In my opinion, having a cloud strategy will provide multiple benefits to an enterprise, including:

At the end of the day, having a Cloud Strategy should enable the IT leadership to plan and be effective using cloud technologies as the base for IT modernization and digital transformation.

Going beyond a Cloud Strategy: Adopting an Open Cloud Strategy

Open Cloud is not just using Open Source software to build private or hybrid clouds. In my opinion, it is also the adoption of the open source culture and best practices as the cornerstone of an Open Cloud Strategy.

For example, when talking about Open Cloud, let’s not forget that most public cloud providers use open source software as their foundation, and making their offerings able to have interoperability with open source software workloads has been a priority for large vendors like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. The reason behind this strategy is simple: open source is great for business!

Here are some of the benefits of adopting an Open Cloud Strategy:

Some of the benefits outlined before could be exemplified by the following open source project examples:

Here are some of the things to consider while adopting an Open Cloud Strategy:

Bottom line, adopting an open cloud strategy at the end of the day is a business decision. A decision that now more than ever is easier to make because of the increased benefits and popularity of open source projects and their communities, the impact of their use in the enterprise, and the amount of quality Cloud computing open source projects available (OpenStack, Kubernetes, Docker, LXC, KVM, Ansible, etc.). Connect with Red Hat Services