Prepare your organization for the cloud

Successful cloud adoption, whether startup or larger organization, requires more than technical readiness. It requires a cloud adoption plan. A cloud adoption plan converts your cloud strategy into an actionable plan that's specific to your goals. Use this guidance to define your cloud adoption plan.

Map your cloud adoption journey

Every organization’s cloud journey is different. Startups often begin cloud-native, while enterprises must assess and migrate existing workloads. Knowing your starting point helps you navigate the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) effectively.

1. Build cloud-native. If you’re a startup with no existing workloads, you build your business cloud-native from the ground up. This approach fosters rapid development using cloud-native design. You follow a portion of CAF Plan: prepare, plan, estimate, document. Then you use CAF Ready to quickly establish your Azure environment and CAF Cloud-native to create cloud-native apps.

2. Migrate existing workloads. Enterprises must evaluate their existing IT estate and determine the best migration strategy for each workload based on business drivers. You follow all of CAF Plan: prepare, plan, discovery, select, assess, estimate, document. Then, you prepare your enterprise environment using an Azure landing zone in CAF Ready. Then, you execute migration using CAF Migrate and modernize using CAF Modernize.

   

Choose how to manage the cloud

How you operate the cloud (cloud operating model) defines how teams manage responsibilities and collaborate. Choosing the right model ensures alignment with business goals, accelerates delivery, clarifies accountability, and reduces operational overhead.

1. Centralized operations: Centralized operations consolidate governance, security, and operations into a single team. It ensures consistent policy enforcement and is ideal for small organizations, startups, or regulated industries. However, it can become a bottleneck as adoption scales. Regularly assess and adjust responsibilities as needed.

2. Shared management operations: Responsibilities are split between a central platform team and multiple workload teams. A governance team defines cloud policies. Platform teams build and maintain the Azure landing zone to enforce cloud policies. Workload teams operate autonomously within those guardrails. This model suits mid-size and enterprise organizations with hybrid or multicloud environments. See Shared management operations.

3. Decentralized operations: Decentralized models give teams full ownership of their cloud workloads, including governance and operations. This approach suits highly skilled teams in startups or innovation programs. To avoid security and compliance risks, evaluate team capabilities, provide training, and conduct regular audits.

4. Understand hybrid approaches. Many organizations benefit from a hybrid model, where different teams operate under different models based on their maturity and needs. For example, core systems might follow a centralized or shared model, while innovation teams operate more independently. Evaluate team capabilities and business priorities to determine where hybrid models add value without compromising governance.

5. Evolve operations as needed. As your organization scales, reassess whether your current operations approach supports your goals. Regularly reassess whether your current model supports your strategic goals and operational needs.

6. Engage business and IT leadership. Successful cloud operations require alignment across the organization. Engage both business and IT leaders to ensure the operations approach reflects shared priorities. This collaboration fosters buy-in, secures necessary resources, and ensures the model has the authority to drive change.

Plan your cloud responsibilities

Clearly defined responsibilities are essential for consistent governance, security, and operations across your Azure environment. Assign ownership early to maintain control and accountability.

1. Plan for cloud governance. Establish a governance team to assess risks, define policies, and monitor progress. This team should be in place before deploying workloads. See Build a cloud governance team.

2. Plan for cloud security. Embed security into every stage of the cloud lifecycle—from development to operations. A secure foundation protects against threats and ensures compliance. See Security Teams, Roles, and Functions to start your security plan.

3. Plan for cloud management. Define operational processes to align cloud operations with business goals and ensure consistent service delivery. See Ready your Azure cloud operations for a detailed list of responsibilities.

4. Plan for AI adoption. AI is a transformational technology that every organization needs to prepare for. Start by developing your AI Strategy and building an AI team. Also review how to govern AI, secure AI, and manage AI.

Document cloud responsibilities

Well-documented cloud responsibilities are essential for clarity, accountability, and operational consistency. It defines who owns what across governance, security, and operations, internally and with partners.

1. Map responsibilities across governance, security, and operations. Assign clear ownership for each function to eliminate ambiguity and ensure comprehensive coverage. Include both primary and backup owners to maintain continuity during absences or transitions. This mapping helps teams understand their roles and reduces the risk of missed tasks or duplicated efforts.

2. Define partner roles. Clearly outline the scope of responsibilities for strategic partners. Specify which functions partners own, such as platform operations, workload management, or innovation initiatives. Ensure these roles complement internal team responsibilities without overlap.

3. Communicate the responsibilities to all stakeholders. Ensure that every team understands its role and how it interacts with others. Provide training, documentation, and onboarding materials to reinforce clarity and support collaboration. This transparency helps teams work effectively within the operations approach and reduces friction across functions.

4. Review responsibilities regularly. As your Azure environment grows and team capabilities evolve, revisit your responsibilities assignments to ensure they remain aligned with business goals and operational needs.

Azure tools and resources

Next steps