A Playbook for Success
5
Over the past two years, humans have
shown that we can be incredibly adaptable
in the face of rapid change. But new
challenges are starting to emerge. Given
the flexibility required throughout the
pandemic, people now expect the same
level of flexibility across every aspect of
our lives – from how we live and work, to
how we eat, spend our leisure time, and
entertain ourselves.
The same can be said of businesses that
sought flexible or adaptable technological
solutions to maintain business continuity
throughout COVID-19. For many
organizations, the quick fix came in
purchasing software, moving workloads
to the cloud, or launching cloud native
applications so teams could work remotely.
Fast action was important, but these
organizations now face a critical
crossroads. At our recent technology
leader roundtable, several attendees
acknowledged they went too hard, too
fast in the cloud and have been forced
to rethink their cloud strategy as a result.
Some said they wanted to learn from others
who’d gone ahead of them, before jumping
into the cloud. While many were struggling
to innovate in the cloud due to skills
shortages within their respective teams.
We’ve spent time digging deeper with
these organizations to understand their
journey to the cloud, where they are at, and
what they want to achieve next. In doing
so, we’ve uncovered valuable lessons for
every technology leader – whether you’re
far along the cloud path or still considering
your first move.
“ Cloud is now firmly
established as an
essential element of a
digital-first strategy.
As organizations
look to automate
operations, deliver
rich customer
experiences, and
launch new products
and services, cloud
has become the
primary accelerator
of innovation.”
Dave McCarthy
Vice President Cloud and Edge
Infrastructure Services at IDC.
Source: IDC FutureScape: Worldwide
Cloud 2022 Predictions
The Need for Speed
There are very few organizations that still
need to be convinced of the importance
of cloud. It’s widely seen as an essential
tool for businesses looking to become
more agile, and adopt newer, more data or
compute intensive technologies.
Despite this, adoption rates across the
enterprise are lagging. Less than a quarter
of enterprise workflows are in the cloud,
and they’re moving slower than expected,
according to Goldman Sachs research.
Why are they slow? Because, as tech
analyst Benedict Evans shares, “This stuff
takes time, and you don’t necessarily
have the budget or justification to rebuild
everything overnight.”
A Playbook for
Success
A Playbook for Success
4
To remain competitive, organizations
must be ready to respond quickly and
accurately to whatever’s thrown their
way– be it security challenges, shifting
employee or customer expectations, or the
next opportunity to drive industry-leading
innovation. A strong cloud foundation
helps deliver this, and so much more.
Yes, the stakes are higher than ever.
Accessing the right talent is hard. Budgets
are being squeezed and IT teams are
being stretched to work across the whole
organization to deliver transformative
outcomes. But when change is the only
constant, you need to focus on having the
right set up to fast-track success.