Still wary about the public cloud? Let’s debunk the myths

Get on the public cloud train. The journey won’t be painless, but the payoff will be huge

By Danielle Royston

2022 has been the year of the public cloud in telco. Forward-thinking leaders are embracing its competitive advantages and cost savings and starting their digital transformation.

While it’s exciting to see more and more telcos starting their public cloud journeys, I still hear excuses from telcos that suffer from analysis paralysis. This isn’t unexpected—major advances in technology have always been greeted by resistance to change. But my advice to those who need a boost of courage? Get on the public cloud train. The journey won’t be painless, but the payoff will be huge.

Let’s break down the most common concerns I hear from telcos that are slow to move.

Myth #1: The public cloud isn’t secure

Hyperscaler security is robust, reliable, proven—and more secure than a telco data center. The Big Three hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) have layers of security in their data centers, custom chips and hardware built to prevent internal attacks (like Google’s purpose-built servers equipped with its custom-built Titan chip), and experience withstanding years of the world’s best attackers trying to penetrate their defenses. (Remember Google’s stop of the largest DDoS attack earlier this year?) Plus, the Big Three have committed $150 BILLION to spend on additional security, on top of the billions they already spend. Telco data center security can’t come close to matching these resources and know-how.

The public cloud is a genuine threat to tens of thousands of jobs, and that truth can be very uncomfortable for employees and managers alike.

So why does this myth persist? Mostly because of a lack of knowledge. I always encourage telco executives to spend some time with hyperscaler security experts to understand how the public cloud security model works, just like they would need to do in their own data centers. Once you start your journey, remember that hyperscalers have hundreds and hundreds of cybersecurity experts ready to help you get it right. Moving to the public cloud will enhance the security of your network and your data, and provide greater protection for your end-users.

Myth #2: The public cloud is more expensive

If this is your experience, you’re doing something wrong. If you’re planning to move applications to the public cloud as-is—also known as the “lift and shift” method—and leave them unchanged, then yes, it will be WAY more expensive. You might as well leave the applications on-premise because you won’t get the benefits of the public cloud.

So how can telco save a ton of money with a move to the public cloud? By redesigning and refactoring applications to make them public cloud native. For example, replace expensive on-prem Oracle databases with a cloud database like Aurora; or redesign a compute intensive application to be serverless. Once you rethink the way you’re deploying applications, you’ll realize the boatloads you can save.

Myth #3: Private clouds are the same as the public cloud

Every time I hear that a telco has chosen to build or maintain a private cloud, I mentally add five years to its public cloud journey. Don’t be fooled by vendors that tell you it’s the same; that couldn’t be further from the truth. To build a private cloud, you will need to spend significant CapEx money on the hardware, and with every server you buy, your finance team is going to want to squeeze every last ounce of use from it to maximize the investment. Private cloud will also lock you into thousands of tiny tech decisions that need to be managed. Which container system shall we use? What’s about orchestration? Shall we support one database stack, or three? How often should we upgrade the hardware? These decisions will become a distraction for your IT team members, and they come at the expense of using their time to support business growth and customers.

Public clouds really are different from private clouds. Once you look past the always-up-to-date hardware and custom silicon chips that are faster and cheaper, you’ll realize all the software innovation the hyperscalers provide—analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, call center, sentiment analysis, and more. To add software like this to your private cloud, you’d have to build it yourself, or buy another package. In the public cloud, it’s an API call away, charged by the use. THIS is something that truly sets the public cloud apart.

A real reason some telcos are slow to move

I suspect these myths have persisted in telco because of a different, more personal opposition to the public cloud: fear of the impact to people. What I’m talking about here is jobs. This is a real issue. The public cloud is a genuine threat to tens of thousands of jobs, and that truth can be very uncomfortable for employees and managers alike. IT professionals will ask what this change means for them personally, and telco leaders need to address this concern head on. It’s true that some people will leave your organization, but those who embrace training and get hands-on experience with the public cloud usually see a 30-40% increase in salary. And being part of a massive transformation project will add valuable, in-demand experience to anyone’s CV.

It’s time to set aside unfounded myths and unwarranted fears. Get the facts about the game-changing potential of the public cloud for telco. If you want to know more, get in touch! I love helping telcos with digital transformation. All aboard the public cloud train!

By Danielle Royston

Founder and CEO of TelcoDR and the acting CEO of Totogi

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