Cloud has been by far the most disruptive technology and important driving force in enterprise IT in recent times, completely changing how applications are developed and consumed, and also changing the very nature of these applications altogether.
Cloud’s appeal to business is that it talks to every member of the C-Suite and every division within the organisation. It’s not just the CIO that’s interested in the cloud. It has massive potential for all areas of the organisation.
For chief marketing officers, cloud enhances user experiences by enabling firms to gather rich data about their current and potential customers and react to that data in real time. Chief HR officers tune into cloud message because of its automation capabilities - to make staff more productive and create better working experiences. The chief technology officer is, of course, attracted by the opportunity to create new products and offerings with Edge to cloud integration and the ability to connect systems, devices and users in a seamless way.
Cloud has great relevance to the chief financial officer, as it removes highly capital-intensive programmes and replaces it with more manageable Opex spend, provides richer financial data, and enables the organisation to build technology-led business cases. For the chief digital officer, new cognitive insights drive opportunities to transform the business into exciting new digital ways. And finally, for the chief information officer, the cloud brings new levels of speed, agility and responsiveness to the way this portfolio serves its business stakeholders.
Powerful capabilities of the cloud
Cloud has also changed the way IT programmes are constructed; no longer do we see the five-year ERP modernisation projects of yesteryear. Today, it is all about smart cloud-based applications, modularised and developed in iterations by smaller and more empowered teams that operate in swarms. All infrastructure and licensing in the modern era run on a simpler ‘pay-as-you-go’ model.
It’s limiting to think of the cloud as purely an infrastructure replacement strategy. Cloud’s real business value comes in all of the advanced capabilities that cloud now makes possible: from the likes of serverless computing, security, databases on the cloud, data streaming, IOT, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and so much more.
It’s these powerful capabilities that bring you the scalability and intelligence needed to compete in the digital era.
To squeeze the most value from the cloud, it’s important to develop a cloud First strategy that orchestrates various public, private, hybrid, hosted and on-premise approaches, that harnesses the pros and cons of each cloud environment to suit your unique needs. Your cloud strategy will ultimately be dictated by your business goals and focus areas.
You might be passionate about creating connected experiences using IoT devices? Or, you might be looking for rich data insights? You might want to adopt cutting-edge technologies or provide better user experiences, or perhaps find new ways for staff and partners in the ecosystem to collaborate? Or perhaps you want to embrace something specific: like virtual reality for instance?
Whatever the business goals, choosing the right cloud platforms will surely help you to get there faster and more efficiently. So start your journey today.
