The cloud is the great enabler. It likely is the single most important development in enterprise computing of the past two decades. It reimagines and fundamentally changes how IT develops, secures and stores data associated with applications and services. Combined with software-defined wide-area networks, agile development, and other evolving technologies and techniques the cloud is a disruptive force that changes everything.
The cloud brings enormous opportunities and changes — and both must be dealt with proactively. We developed a new e-book, “Power business transformation with the cloud,” to put these issues into context and suggests 5 steps for companies trying to answer the difficult questions of where in the cloud they should go and how should they get there.
You’ll learn:
- The differences between the cloud and legacy environments
- The benefits of the cloud
- Key steps to moving into this exciting environment
- The latest thinking on vital security issues.
The cloud is not new, but it continues to grow. This summer, Gartner released its assessment of the worldwide infrastructure-as-a-business market. It found that the sector still is growing — and quickly. The firm said that the worldwide IaaS market grew 31.3% in 2018 compared to 2017, with the total value rising from $24.7 billion to $32.4 billion. There are several types of clouds and many cloud providers. At the highest level, the cloud’s main value is how it unleashes a company’s entrepreneurial spirit and eliminates technology as a gating factor. It accelerates time to market by harnessing quickly evolving computational and networking capabilities that enable a level of flexibility unheard of even a decade ago. Teams instantaneously have access to computing and storage resources when they need them — not a month or six weeks later.
Since cloud infrastructure is owned by the provider, the cost of creating these environments shifts from capex to opex and, overall, is much less. The bottom line is that moving computing off the corporate network is far more efficient. Partnering with a cloud provider brings the latest technology and years of employee expertise into the fold. It segregates production networks from those that are developing new or improving existing products and services.
Leveraging change
Such significant changes in the underlying technology have an equally large impact on how the organization operates. Important processes, such as data lineage, governance, cataloging and profiling, are handled differently. Roles change as technology changes. The entire company — from the CEO to those “in the trenches” — must understand the transition and new imperatives. They must accept the idea that everything, including quite possibly their job descriptions, will change.
The growth of the cloud is due to the great value the cloud brings to enterprise computing. Companies not in the cloud need to get there; those already using these platforms need to deepen their understanding in order to draw more value from their investments.
The journey to the cloud is a long and interesting one. It likely will improve the fortunes of companies that develop a true understanding of how to leverage it. Whether your company has not yet embarked on the journey or are considering the best next steps, the “Power Business Transformation with the Cloud” is full of useful information and insights.
