Your Journey to the Cloud – Part 2: Transformation & Implementation
The Searchlight guide to Cloud Transformation draws on our extensive experience in overseeing and executing transformations for organisations of every size. This article is the second instalment in our three-part blog series.
Before proceeding with this discussion on Cloud Transformation and Implementation, we recommend you first read Part One of the Guide: Your Journey to the Cloud – Assessment & Planning, which covers the essential aspects of cloud assessment and planning.
Cloud Transformation & Implementation
Having developed and completed your cloud vision, strategy, and business case, you should now have the go-ahead to begin the transformation and implementation. To ensure success at this stage, it is essential to focus on three key areas: approach, delivery, and governance.
Cloud Approach
The cloud approach defines how you will deliver your transformation and achieve its intended outcomes. This involves making key decisions across four critical dimensions: people, processes, technology, and data.
People
A successful cloud transformation depends heavily on assembling, organising, and managing the right teams. Several groups will play pivotal roles:
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Stakeholders – All teams and key individuals across your organisation who will be impacted by the journey to cloud should be engaged in decisions that affect them.
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Programme Team – The core group responsible for execution, typically a mix of permanent IT and change staff, seconded business representatives, contractors, and consultants. Many organisations require additional external expertise to fill skill gaps.
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System Integrators – When internal resources are limited, consider partnering with an experienced consultancy to lead or support delivery. Choose partners with a proven track record in your industry, credible client references, and measurable success criteria.
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Vendors – Build strong relationships with your chosen solution or software providers. Understand the features and limitations of their technology and ensure its use is underwritten by the vendor.
Process
Moving to the cloud often transforms how organisations operate, particularly in programme and project delivery:
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Ways of Working – If your organisation is new to agile or iterative delivery methods, a cloud transformation is a perfect opportunity to adopt them. Agile enables continuous learning, incremental delivery, and adaptability—key to the fast-moving nature of cloud projects. However, it demands investment in training, change management, and ongoing support to ensure successful adoption.
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Buy vs Build – Decide whether to purchase or develop your cloud solutions. For standard requirements (CRM, ERP, Finance, HR, websites, portals), SaaS solutions can often be configured quickly. For more complex or unique needs—especially those involving deep integration with legacy or third-party systems—consider bespoke development using established cloud frameworks.
Technology
Cloud technology is one of the most rapidly evolving areas of IT, blending proven enterprise solutions with cutting-edge innovation:
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Selecting the Right Technology – Define clear architectural and risk principles to guide solution choices. Balance capability, cost, security, compliance, integration, service levels, scalability, and long-term alignment with business strategy.
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Data Considerations – Understand the origins, value, and sensitivity of your data, plus the legal protections required. Decide where and how your data will be mastered in a distributed environment, supported by strong cybersecurity measures to protect against breaches and reputational risk.
Top Tip: Few organisations have all the skills to embark on a cloud transformation independently—seek independent advice from a cloud specialist not tied to selling you tools or licensed services.
Cloud Delivery
Once your people, processes, technology, and data are aligned, implementation can begin. Your delivery style will typically depend on your “buy” or “build” approach:
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Conventional Delivery (Buy/SaaS) – Focus on gathering requirements, modelling processes, configuring services, integrating systems, and rigorous end-to-end testing.
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Agile Delivery (Build/Custom) – Assemble a cross-functional team of users and developers to work in sprints, evolving an MVP into a full business application.
Top Tip: Many transformations benefit from blending both approaches—choosing the best fit for each workstream.
Cloud Governance
Cloud transformation presents big opportunities—and significant risks. Governance should be proactive and multi-layered:
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Business Assurance – Business owners and solution leads approve deliverables at each stage, with a Design Authority providing continuous architectural oversight.
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Programme Governance – Oversees all plans, budgets, progress, risks, dependencies, and stakeholder engagement to minimise expectation gaps.
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Delivery Assurance – Independent verification of programme quality, with early intervention to address risks before they escalate.
Top Tip: Cloud programmes require greater rigour than traditional IT projects—course-correct during the journey rather than only learning lessons at the end.
In Summary
Adopting innovative delivery practices, selecting the right technology mix, and applying robust governance are critical to a successful cloud transformation. Searchlight Consulting has helped numerous organisations stay on course through independent delivery assurance—delivering on time, on budget, and to specification.
Next in the series, we will explore Cloud Optimisation & Improvement.
Follow us on LinkedIn for updates, or get in touch with our team to see how we can support your cloud transformation projects.
