Engaging the Cloud Organization for Successful B2B Application Delivery

[In this post, I identify various cloud stakeholders vital for successful application deployments]

A product manager/owner is typically responsible for the functional specifications developed by the engineering teams. However, for cloud deployments, one should also consider the non-functional requirements (scale, security, data confidentiality & isolation etc.) that can impact the use cases offered, as well as the business, financial and legal requirements of offering the product and services in different environments globally.

 

For an organization running its own cloud operations, there will be someone covering the following functions:

• Cloud architecture (the people who define what containers, servers and API contracts are available for any application)
• Cloud ops (the team that runs the cloud, including storage, network and compute)
• Cloud security (the team that defines the standardized security offered within the cloud)
• Cloud application support (the team that interacts with customers and users who face problems)
• Cloud delivery (the team that configures multiple applications within the cloud for a specific enterprise customer)
• App customization and development (the team that creates plug-ins, extensions and enhancements specific to a customer)
• App integration (the team that makes sure data flow is managed as per requirements and for compliance needs, between various applications)

Sometimes the last 3 capabilities may be covered by service delivery teams via paid engagements. And in smaller firms, these teams can be outsourced, distributed or merged with other cloud teams.

For the success of your application, it is important to make sure that these customer-facing and operational teams are successful in their tasks. So apart from regular engineering interactions, you may also have to allocate time and resources to engage these stakeholders.

Always keep the following points in mind:

1. These cloud teams are supporting your application, and there is a symbiotic relationship between development and cloud teams. Do not underestimate their significance.
2. Application architecture is very different from cloud-based deployment architecture. Listen to your cloud architects and mediate between architect teams as required. If the cloud supports multiple products, your cloud architects may rule.
3. If you have a team of product owners reporting to you, keep at least one PO focused on cloud platform requirements. From time to time, these requirements can impact your backlog, leading to delays in delivery.
4. Keep demoing your application to all these stakeholders. Sometimes it can be via hands-on access in a sandbox, but you can also hold a brown bag session to explain new features or enhancements.
5. Whenever possible, keep sharing customer feedback with the cloud teams. With their focus on ops, up-time, performance etc. they sometimes miss the point of why the cloud exists in the first place.