Perspective Chapter: Cloud Lock-in Parameters – Service Adoption and Migration

Abstract

ICT has been lauded as being revolutionised by cloud computing, which relieves businesses of having to make significant capital investments in ICT while allowing them to connect to incredibly potent computing capabilities over the network. Organisations adopt cloud computing as a way to solve business problems, not technical problems. As such, organisations across Europe are eagerly embracing cloud computing in their operating environments. Understanding cloud lock-in parameters is essential for supporting inter-cloud cooperation and seamless information and data exchange. Achieving vendor-neutral cloud services is a fundamental requirement and a necessary strategy to be fulfilled in order to enable portability. This chapter highlights technical advancements that contribute to the interoperable migration of services in the heterogeneous cloud environment. A set of guidelines and good practices were also collected and discussed, thus providing strategies on how lock-in can be mitigated. Moreover, this chapter provides some recommendations for moving forward with cloud computing adoption. To make sure the migration and integration between on-premise and cloud happen with minimal disruption to business and results in maximum sustainable cost benefit, the chapter’s contribution is also designed to provide new knowledge and greater depth to support organisations around the world to make informed decisions.