Benefits of Adopting Cloud Computing

The successful adoption of cloud computing in business is a transition process that requires resolute leadership, strong operational alignment, a clear execution roadmap based on measurable value metrics, and fearless conviction, writes Emma Okonji

The adoption of cloud technology in business has been described by industry stakeholders as one process with many benefits.

But most companies still find it difficult to put their operations on a cloud footing. Instead, they still prefer to manage with one foot in the cloud environment, while the other remains planted in the legacy organisation. Companies can succumb to a variety of operational pitfalls during this period, ranging from having the wrong talent to treating the cloud simply as Information Technology (IT) issue, rather than a core business mandate.

However, making this transition successfully requires resolute leadership, strong operational alignment, a clear execution roadmap based on measurable cloud value metrics, and fearless conviction.

Managing organisations with cloud

Experience suggests that many companies attempting to add cloud to a legacy organisation are unprepared for the challenges ahead.

The stakes for such unpreparedness can be high. A failed cloud transformation can disrupt organisations and imperil business objectives.

For example, after struggling to build a private cloud in an effort that took years and huge levels of effort and resources, a United Kingdom (UK)  publisher had to scrap the entire project and join an already established public cloud service, in the process disrupting the legacy business and generating major costs. Additionally, a survey of nearly 300 Information Technology (IT) professionals conducted by Accenture, reveals that two of the top reasons why cloud implementations fail are a lack of clearly identified business objectives for migrating to the cloud, and poor planning.

Clearly, it is critical the business and technology management are aligned on specific objectives and develop a detailed plan to adopt and embrace cloud technology.

Integrating cloud with conviction

During a critical transition period, a tepid approach or lack of strong operational alignment (behavior change) can cause a project to stall. It is critical to have a plan that ensures the legacy organisation recognises the magnitude of the changes ahead.

A recent survey conducted by Accenture, asked 140 executives what problems their private clouds faced. Over 30 per cent – by far the largest response – reported their failure to change their operational model as the primary stumbling block.

Clearly, agile clouds need agile processes, and people can either become big supporters or ominous roadblocks on the trail to integration.

In the views of the Managing Director, Technology Accenture Nigeria, Mr. Niyi Tayo, operationally, companies need to reconcile their legacy standard operating procedures with the cloud organisation’s organic agility.

In many cases, that means introducing multi-speed IT strategies and re-skilling legacy staff to function in the cloud environment.

And because cloud-based innovation projects often shift direction, leaders need effective ways to gauge progress quickly and accurately. Only then will they be able to mitigate issues as they occur.

According to him, until the company has solidly integrated the new cloud-based capabilities, the digital platform is in danger of becoming just another box on the organisation chart instead of the transformational engine that powers the company to digital parity with competitors.

Cloud-based transformations 

 Netflix began operation as a dot-com DVD innovator, offering a more convenient service than its bricks and mortar rivals by allowing customers to rent movies online and then receive their DVDs in the mail.

The company’s legacy DVD mail business dropped from 20 million subscribers in 2010  to 5.3 million in 2015.

By embracing agile resources, Netflix replaced them with 65 million cloud-enabled, live streaming customers worldwide.

In the process, the company radically transformed itself from a movie rental competitor to a cloud-focused player that competes with global media players worldwide.

In making this move, Netflix proved it could support a new business with a new operating model without facing major legacy conflicts. It split its DVD mail and streaming services in 2011, indicating a desire to let each grow and operate independently. Netflix is currently a leader in over-the-top content streaming, and in 2013 became a content production company, creating its own TV entertainment that it streams to users.

Also, Towergate, one of Europe’s largest independent insurance intermediaries, wanted to shift its traditional IT organisation to a cloud focus. The company’s 300 acquisitions over 20 years complicated the challenge. However, since many had different legacy IT systems and applications, Accenture worked with Microsoft and joint-venture partner, Avanade to migrate infrastructure and applications to the public cloud.

The initiative focused on four infrastructure areas: datacenters, the network, end-user computing, and service support.

The transformation took less time than anticipated 12 months and delivered annual savings of 30 per cent, representing savings of about $5 million per year. In the process, Towergate connected 4,500 employees and effectively integrated all 300 of its acquisitions.

Featuring a smarter, faster and better IT platform, the company’s cloud transformation improved user experiences with new tools, a single service desk and enhanced self-service capabilities. It also made collaborating across departments easier, while boosting Towergate’s agility and customer responsiveness.

The need for cloud integration 

Leaders face a series of key strategic decisions regarding whether to integrate or separate the cloud business from the organisation.

Netflix for instance, introduced its cloud-based streaming business in 2007, but waited until 2011 to split it from the DVD business. Other cases could take less time, especially if the agile organisation’s fit with the legacy business is unworkable, or the cloud business grows faster than expected. Then options range from creating another business unit to spinning the legacy business off or selling it outright.

According to experts’ views, if integration is feasible, leaders need to explore their options in this area. Possible solutions, they said, include absorbing the cloud business into the legacy one, which then becomes “new” by the principles of Osmosis, or rotating legacy talent through the separate cloud business unit to learn the new approaches and take them back to their original jobs. In either case, companies must learn how to operate in a multi-speed way, the experts said. For example, one automaker created a two-speed IT approach capable of handling the higher-risk, more-likely-to-fail technology experiments its emerging digital business requires, while at the same time accommodating the company’s more traditional IT system development and upkeep needs.

Critical choices ahead

As more companies embrace the cloud to enable innovation and drive profitable growth, they need to make a clear-eyed assessment regarding how to position the cloud organisation in the larger enterprise, and what needs to happen and when to ensure its success. While the new cloud business may infuse agility, the organisation might need to reengineer the legacy business, perhaps spinning off or streamlining certain areas while bolstering others. Likewise, the new cloud business could evolve into several different operational end-states, which is an agile standalone cloud play.

According to experts,  three experience-based insights could provide guidance in areas such as ‘Get Serious About The Cloud’ and tap from its many benefits by training employees in relevant solutions, tools and apps, as well as to plan future innovations with the technology as their base.

The other experience-based insight is to ‘Go Agile’ by creating  a top to bottom agile organisation, not just in development but for every element of the company, including human resources, legal, finance, procurement and sales and marketing.

The third experience-based insight is to ‘Get Rid of Baggage’ in order to reduce IT drag, and to embark on a lean mission for workloads.

Commitment to innovation

As companies reinvent themselves for the digital age, their leaders need to consider how to integrate their established legacy operations with the sleek new promise of their emerging agile organisations. They need to retain the institutional knowledge on the legacy side while simultaneously developing new skills for the future. Achieving this goal will compel them to operate in new and perhaps challenging ways, and success will require them to adopt the cloud with conviction, which requires an unconditional commitment to innovation.