Cutting-edge Billion-Dollar Cloud Strategy: Transforming Infrastructure and Application Modernization for Unprecedented Success! by Chandra Gundlapalli

Cloud Strategy - Infrastructure and Application Modernization

We created a Cutting-edge Billion-Dollar Cloud Strategy during my Global Vice President executive role at Unisys (2019 - 2021). I was head of Application Services globally with a $400M P&L and partnered with BU leaders to create the following UNIQUE end-to-end offering.

CloudForte on AWS (Public Information)

CloudForte on Azure (Public Information)

Let’s summarize: Unisys CloudForte is a comprehensive suite of managed services and tools designed to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation and migration to the cloud. It offers a wide range of benefits to organizations, including:

  • Faster cloud adoption: CloudForte provides a structured, streamlined approach to cloud migration, enabling organizations to adopt cloud technologies more quickly and efficiently.

  • Reduced complexity: CloudForte offers a unified platform for managing and optimizing cloud resources across multiple providers, simplifying the management of complex, multi-cloud environments.

  • Cost optimization: CloudForte provides tools and services for cost analysis, monitoring, and optimization, helping organizations to manage and reduce their cloud-related expenses.

  • Enhanced security and compliance: CloudForte offers integrated security and compliance features, including automated compliance checks, risk assessments, and continuous monitoring, ensuring that organizations' cloud environments are secure and compliant with relevant regulations.

  • Improved performance and reliability: CloudForte leverages best practices and automated tools to optimize application performance and ensure high availability, enabling organizations to deliver a consistently high-quality user experience.

  • Scalability and flexibility: CloudForte enables organizations to scale their cloud infrastructure as needed to meet changing business requirements, providing greater agility and flexibility in responding to market demands.

  • Expert guidance and support: CloudForte provides access to a team of cloud experts who can offer strategic guidance, technical support, and best practices to help organizations make the most of their cloud investments.

  • Continuous innovation: CloudForte enables organizations to adopt new cloud technologies and services as they become available, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of digital innovation.

To execute the above we had to strengthen partnerships, CloudForte has established partnerships with several industry-leading cloud providers and technology vendors to offer a comprehensive and integrated cloud management solution for their customers. Some of the key partnerships include:

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS): As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner and Managed Service Provider Partner, Unisys collaborates with AWS to provide managed services, migration support, and application modernization services for clients moving to the AWS cloud.

  • Microsoft Azure: Unisys is a Microsoft Gold Partner and works closely with Microsoft Azure to deliver a comprehensive suite of managed services, migration support, and consulting services for clients looking to adopt Azure cloud services.

  • Cloudneeti is a cloud security and compliance assurance solutions provider. This partnership aimed to improve cybersecurity protection and compliance for customers migrating their workloads and applications to the cloud. Unisys integrated Cloudneeti's cloud security posture management (CSPM) solution into its CloudForte managed services offering.

  • Google Cloud: Unisys has partnered with Google Cloud to provide managed services, migration support, and consulting services for clients who want to leverage Google Cloud Platform's offerings.

  • Dell Technologies: Unisys has formed a partnership with Dell Technologies to provide clients with an integrated cloud management solution that combines Unisys CloudForte's managed services with Dell Technologies' hardware and software solutions.

  • ServiceNow: Unisys has integrated CloudForte with ServiceNow's IT service management platform to provide seamless management, automation, and orchestration of cloud resources, improving operational efficiency and reducing manual effort.

  • VMware: Unisys partners with VMware to help clients migrate their on-premises VMware environments to the cloud, leveraging VMware Cloud on AWS and other cloud platforms for a seamless transition.

Few success stories:

Unisys CloudForte has helped numerous organizations across various industries successfully migrate to and manage their cloud environments. Here are a few examples of real cloud projects where Unisys CloudForte played a key role:

  • State of Georgia, USA: The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) partnered with Unisys to modernize their IT infrastructure and migrate to a hybrid cloud environment. Unisys CloudForte helped GTA optimize their cloud resources and improve security, resulting in increased agility, better resource utilization, and lower costs.

  • New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA): Unisys worked with NZTA to migrate their critical applications to Microsoft Azure. By leveraging CloudForte, NZTA was able to optimize their cloud infrastructure, enhance security, and achieve a more agile IT environment, enabling them to deliver better services to their customers.

  • A large Australian bank: Unisys helped the bank move its retail banking applications to the cloud, leveraging the CloudForte platform for a secure and compliant migration. The bank realized improved performance, scalability, and cost savings, along with enhanced security and compliance.

  • A leading pharmaceutical company: Unisys partnered with this company to migrate their on-premises data center to a hybrid cloud environment. Using CloudForte, the company was able to optimize their cloud resources, achieve greater agility, and reduce costs while maintaining strict security and compliance requirements.

Challenges we faced (and how we solved them in a new blog):

  • Infrastructure and Application cloud readiness check automation

  • Legacy to cloud Native Data & App migration utilities

  • Continuous security compliance (GDPR, etc.)

  • 40-year old Mainframe cargo (logistics) monolithic to microservices modernization framework/strategy

  • Legacy physical teller mainframe banking app modernization framework/strategy

  • EUX (UI/UX) modernization framework/strategy

  • Hybrid cloud (Horizontal scaling with on-prem and cloud) workload capability and migration

  • Low/No-Code limited offerings

  • AI/ML offerings maturity (for improved margins eliminating manual managed services inefficiencies) and lack of real client data

  • Seamless integration to AWS\Azure cloud well-architected framework

  • Monolithic spaghetti legacy code complexity

  • Cloud skills & certifications

  • Not on industry analyst’s radar or market report quadrants

  • Limited Sales and Solutions GTM enablement (integrated offerings across infrastructure, application, security, and data)

  • Limited cloud solution partners

  • Clear and concise messaging (articulate market differentiation)

  • Lack of M&A game plan with niche & small cloud and modernization vendors

30-Second Takeaway: Crucial to Develop a Comprehensive Strategy to create a strategy across People/Processes and Technology with brownfield legacy systems/applications in mind.

PS: Please check back, I will be updating the above article on the weekend(s).