How to Build a Successful Cloud Governance Model: The Ultimate Guide

What is Cloud Governance?

Cloud governance refers to the set of guiding principles, policies, and procedures that dictate how your organization uses cloud services. These governing policies ensure business leaders and IT teams are on the same page when it comes to how and why cloud services are used within the organization. Cloud governance encompasses more than just security. It also includes business continuity, compliance, risk management, and visibility. Because the cloud has lowered barriers to entry for small and medium-sized businesses, governance is more important than ever to ensure organizations are using cloud services in a way that aligns with their business objectives. High-performing companies use cloud governance to map out how cloud services will be used, who will use them, how they’ll be accessed, and what metrics will be used to measure success. With a governance model in place, decision-makers have a clear-cut guide to help them make educated decisions when it comes to cloud adoption.

Cloud Governance Services

● Policy Management: This feature ensures all cloud services adhere to the organization’s security standards. It also identifies any gaps in coverage and provides recommendations on how to fix them.
● Process Management: This feature looks at current and future business processes to determine how cloud services can help achieve greater efficiency.
● Risk Management: This feature helps organizations identify potential risks associated with their cloud services and provides recommendations on how to mitigate them.
● Visibility Management: This feature helps organizations gain a greater understanding of how their cloud services are being used.
● Compliance Management: This feature provides real-time insights into which cloud services are out of compliance, why they’re out of compliance, and what action must be taken to correct the problem.

Ways to a Successful Cloud Governance Model

When building a cloud governance model, it’s important to keep in mind the overarching purpose of the system. You want to create a centralized hub that helps you achieve better visibility, control, and collaboration across the organization. This means your governance model must include the following elements:

Clear communication

Your cloud governance model should set the standard for clear communication across the organization. Some communication channels are useful for sharing information within specific disciplines or teams. However, they don’t provide a single source of truth for all teams to draw from. An effective governance model helps teams share information seamlessly.

Clear communication between teams

The governance model should also help teams collaborate more effectively across the organization. This can be done by including the following elements in the governance model:

● Visibility into cloud services - Your governance model should provide visibility into cloud usage across the organization. It should be easy to identify which services are being used, by whom, and how.
● Usage policies for cloud services - Your governance model should include guidelines for using cloud services across the organization. For example, it should be easy to determine which team has the authority to sign off on a new service request.

Metrics to measure success

Your governance model should provide a clear picture of how cloud services are contributing to the organization’s goals. It should be easy to determine which services are contributing the most to the organization’s success.

Contribution to the organization’s goals

Your governance model should be able to show how cloud services are contributing to the organization’s goals. This is often accomplished by creating a contribution dashboard that illustrates how each cloud service is contributing to the organization’s goals.