| | July 20168CIOReviewCloud as an Enabler of Media TransformationBy Jamshid Khazenie, CTO, USA Today Network/GannettDramatic change in how news and media are delivered to audiences began with the advent of the Web around twenty years ago, and has not slowed down since! As audiences moved from traditional media to the web, and later to mobile and social platforms, media companies have had varying levels of success in keeping pace with technology transformation, as well as continuous innovations in how audiences interact with content. While many might see such changes as disruptive threats to their industry, we can choose to see them as opportunities to serve our readers and viewers in new and delightful ways, while delivering new value through services not previously possible. In other words embrace instead of defend. An example of these new possibilities that falls squarely within the world of CIOs and CTOs is utilization of cloud infrastructure. The rapid growth of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other public cloud offerings such as Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform have enabled technology leaders to variabilize their cost structure while bringing transparency and accountability to how their application portfolio consumes compute and storage. We can now deploy capacity and respond to the needs of the business much more quickly, removing barriers to innovation and experimentation. News organizations can now scale to meet the `bursty' demand of a major breaking news event without having to "build to 10X average daily traffic". Still, for large well-established media organizations, migration to the cloud is not a simple change that can be completed in a few weeks or even months. At the USA TODAY NETWORK, which is comprised of USA Today plus 92 local digital/print publications reaching 100+ unique visitors each month, we began our cloud transformation in mid 2015 and are well on our way to optimize a hybrid public-private design that will power our business for many years to come. The journey has brought up many interesting challenges and lessons which are likely to be common among similar media organizations and therefore worth sharing. Take InventoryNot the most fun part of the project, but a necessary one. Start by creating an inventory of your entire application portfolio. What platform do they run on, who are the business owners, what are their capacity requirements, and most importantly, what business value do they offer today? This will help organize the migration plan as well as provide a unique house cleaning opportunity. Many applications are likely the result of "organic growth" and no longer delivering the value they once did. Which means they should be considered for sun setting or downsizing as part of the migration. Build a TeamIf your shop is anything like ours, everyone is heads-down busy with business as usual operations and projects. A serious transformation project will never get the attention it needs unless there is a team dedicated to its progress. The team needs to contain not only the necessary skills around cloud Jamshid KhazenieIN MYOPINION
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