More Than Cloud Migration: The Essence of Cloud Lifecycle Management (CLM)

A few years ago, a large insurance company began transitioning its IT infrastructure to the cloud. The objective was to improve operational agility and customer responsiveness. But with over 5,000 agents, multiple sales channels, and sensitive customer data, they could not afford mistakes. Managing such complexity across the cloud required more than migration. The company needed full lifecycle management in the cloud.

Cloud Lifecycle Management (CLM) plays a crucial role in keeping cloud services secure, optimised, and cost-effective from the moment they are planned to when they are eventually retired. CLM is essentially the strategic orchestration of cloud-based services throughout their life - from planning and provisioning to monitoring, optimisation, and decommissioning. It ensures that every cloud asset is deployed securely, performs efficiently, and aligns with business goals. At Writer Information, we consider CLM a systematic framework that manages cloud resources from inception to retirement. This approach highlights governance, automation, and continuous compliance as pillars of sustainable cloud operations. Without proper CLM, businesses risk rising costs, inefficiencies, and security gaps. In an environment where cloud services are elastic and change rapidly, CLM provides the necessary structure and discipline. This is why CLM is more than just cloud migration.

The Charge of the Cloud Brigade

Let’s take a closer look at why CLM matters, because the numbers clearly show that efficient cloud management is more critical than ever. With over 90% of global businesses on the cloud, and the need for accelerated digital transformation, understanding and implementing CLM is becoming an essential part of enterprise strategy. Global end user spending on public cloud is expected to exceed $723 billion by 2025, with a growth rate of over 21%[1]. India’s end user spending on public cloud had reached $11.7 billion, with a robust growth rate over the years[2].

Beneath these impressive growth figures lies a cautionary reality. While a growing number of businesses are embracing hybrid cloud strategies - with the Flexera State of the Cloud Report noting that 70% of companies have already adopted hybrid environments - many are now taking a closer look at the financial implications[3]. In fact, Gartner expects 90% companies to use hybrid cloud by 2027[4]. The Flexera report also highlights that 72% of organisations are actively working to optimise their cloud spending, a clear sign that cost control is becoming a priority. Notably, an estimated 27% of cloud expenditure is wasted, underscoring the urgent need for structured CLM to maximise value and minimise inefficiencies.

Breaking Down the Cloud Lifecycle

The cloud lifecycle is a continuous series of interconnected processes. Each stage must be handled with care to prevent inefficiencies or vulnerabilities. It begins with planning, where business needs are assessed and the appropriate cloud model - public, private, or hybrid - is selected. This stage sets the tone for everything that follows, including budgeting, compliance considerations, and disaster recovery plans.

Next is provisioning, where resources such as virtual machines, containers, and storage systems are set up. In a large enterprise, this is rarely done manually. Tools automate provisioning to ensure consistency, speed, and security.

Once systems are live, configuration and monitoring take centre stage. At this point, IT teams must ensure that systems are running correctly and efficiently. Downtime not only affects operations; it also impacts trust. There are several best-of-breed monitoring tools available in the market that continuously track metrics, raising alerts for unusual behaviour.

The next stage is governance and compliance. With evolving regulations like India’s DPDP (Digital Personal Data Protection Act), and international ones like GDPR, CLM must enforce access control, audit logs, and data encryption.

As usage patterns emerge, cost optimisation becomes critical. As mentioned earlier, without proper lifecycle management, businesses often pay for idle or underused resources - wasting around 30-35% of their cloud budget.

Finally, retirement involves securely decommissioning systems, releasing unused resources, and archiving data when services are no longer needed. Each phase feeds into the next. Skipping a step or executing it poorly can have costly consequences.

Tailoring CLM for Enterprises of All Sizes

CLM is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It varies based on organisational scale and maturity.

Large enterprises often manage thousands of cloud assets across multiple departments. For them, CLM is about scale and governance. They invest in dedicated cloud centres of excellence and use advanced automation tools to enforce policies globally. Their focus is on security, auditability, and operational resilience.

Medium-sized businesses, often constrained by tighter budgets, look for efficient, packaged CLM solutions. They can partner with managed service providers that offer cost-effective management services without the need for a large in-house IT team. Their priority is balancing performance with simplicity.

Small companies and startups often begin their journey with cloud-native tools. They benefit from the flexibility and low upfront costs of platforms like AWS or Azure. While their CLM practices might start off informal, as they grow, they realise the need for structured cost monitoring, scaling policies, and security controls.

Benefits and Perils of CLM

CLM goes beyond cost savings. Other benefits include:

Operational agility and efficiency - Organisations gain the ability to respond swiftly to evolving demands through dynamically scalable and secure cloud systems. CLM streamlines the provisioning, configuration, and retirement of resources, significantly reducing reliance on manual processes while accelerating deployment cycles.
Risk mitigation - By automating compliance checks, patch management, and policy enforcement, CLM minimises the risk of security breaches and service disruptions. It ensures consistent adherence to regulatory standards and internal governance across every stage of the cloud resource lifecycle.
Resource optimisation: Through CLM, organisations can ensure resources are used efficiently and decommissioned when no longer needed, preventing unnecessary costs. It also helps to right-size infrastructure, thereby reducing the chance of paying for idle capacity.

While the benefits are significant, there are some critical challenges that companies need to be cognisant of. Firstly, the use of multi-cloud environments can be challenging as standardising processes across cloud providers becomes difficult. Policies must be uniform, yet flexible enough to accommodate platform-specific features. Then, there are legacy systems that don’t natively integrate with modern CLM tools. This creates operational silos and requires middleware solutions. Over-dependence on a single provider can lead to lack of portability and rising costs, which CLM must manage through clear exit strategies and hybrid cloud architecture.

Looking Ahead: The Future of CLM

CLM has moved from the shadows to the spotlight. It is now central to ensuring cloud investments remain secure, efficient, and aligned with business growth. The future of CLM is being shaped by innovation and accountability. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had a deep impact on shaping the future of CML. It will deepen its role in anomaly detection, predictive scaling, and self-healing environments, and will transform cloud management, making it more efficient, secure, and cost-effective. In addition, sustainability will become a major factor. With data centres consuming about 1% of global electricity, more organisations will demand lifecycle visibility into carbon footprints. Edge computing, with its decentralised infrastructure, will require CLM models to adapt further. Overall, a solid CLM strategy will help companies master the cloud. With partners like Writer Information offering tailored CLM services, clients are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation - responsibly, intelligently, and sustainably.

[1] https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-11-19-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-total-723-billion-dollars-in-2025

[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1220691/india-public-cloud-services-end-user-spending/

[3] https://resources.flexera.com/web/pdf/Flexera-State-of-the-Cloud-Report-2025.pdf?elqTrackId=a7a9e020697145978644976469891ec7&elqaid=8151&elqat=2&elqak=8AF5B54919440EB9647097C0F9A9D524E5B073CA680F32B4ECF184E6F27169C29C9A&_gl=1*17etnou*_gcl_au*MTIyNTk2MTQ0NS4xNzQ0Nzk3MzQz*_ga*NDYwNTUwNTY5LjE3NDQ3OTczNDM.*_ga_GXNEBN7LEE*czE3NDcxMzc3NjkkbzUkZzEkdDE3NDcxMzc3NzUkajU0JGwwJGgw

[4] https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-11-19-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-total-723-billion-dollars-in-2025