For 28% of businesses today, cloud transformation isn’t just a ‘nice to have’, it’s a matter of survival [1]. This was the startling discovery of research commissioned by Cloudreach in 2022.
This is hardly surprising. In a market that’s changing and evolving faster than ever, companies need to be more agile than their competitors, if they hope to thrive. This agility is one of the main benefits offered by migrating to cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure — and the transformation that this migration can bring about.
Why is this the case? How can you tell if your company is part of that 28%? And if it is, what should you do about it?
Why is cloud transformation so important?
Since the start of the pandemic, companies have crammed in at least seven years’ worth of digital transformation [2]. At the same time, brand loyalty has been massively shaken by the experience of the last two years. In some sectors, it’s now as low as 26% [3].
And more and more, consumers place a premium on experience. Another study, for instance, found that 70% of younger consumers say experience is the biggest factor in determining brand choice [4].
Taken together, these factors create an environment in which intelligence and flexibility are at a premium. Companies must be able to detect shifts in consumer demand, in real time, then reconfigure their communications, go-to-market strategies and other elements of their operation, at speed.
In practice, this is almost impossible to do with fixed, on-premises infrastructure. Only the cloud offers the necessary flexibility and scalability. With the right cloud infrastructure, such as Microsoft Azure, you can set trigger thresholds — for instance, around response times or lag — which, when met, instantly bring more resources online. With fixed, on-premises data centers, this is far more difficult and expensive: prohibitively so, for most companies.
And with machine-learning and artificial intelligence built into leading cloud platforms, you are able to analyze your business and operational data, both historical and real time. This allows you to identify opportunities for immediate and long-term optimization, to deliver continuous improvements to how you manage your cloud infrastructure and to ensure that every business unit has the resources it needs to grow market share.
How to tell if your company is one of the 28%
Of those companies which didn’t say that cloud transformation was a matter of survival, 40% still said it was a strategic priority and would be the foundation of their future innovation [1]. So even if cloud transformation isn’t a matter of corporate life or death, there’s every chance it is still crucial to gaining and retaining a competitive edge.
But the big question is, how to tell if your company is part of the 28%. Here are five telltale signs that it may be:
1. You are unable to grasp opportunities as they arise
When customer demand shifts, you can’t reconfigure your communications channels, go-to-market vehicles and sales outlets fast enough to take advantage of new, and sometimes time-limited, opportunities. Instead, you see how quickly competitors reconfigure their operations to seize the extra traffic and sales.
2. Infrastructure projects keep getting cancelled or delayed
Upgrades to your digital infrastructure become cumbersome, time-consuming projects which require far greater upfront capital outlay than the business is comfortable with. As a result, they often run behind schedule and are at a far higher risk of being cancelled than they should be.
3. You spend over-the-odds on talent and technology
In your quest to stay ahead of the market, you find yourself spending more than you should both on technology and on talent. But despite this, you find it difficult to get the tech and people who exactly fit your company’s needs. In many cases, this leads to high costs for short-term or ad hoc outsourcing.
4. You want to optimize, but can’t
When infrastructure grows over time, particularly if there have been mergers and acquisitions, then redundancy, technical debt and broken or undocumented dependencies start to impact performance and reliability. If you want to address these issues, but the limitations and cost of your infrastructure make this hard, it’s time to migrate to the cloud.
5. Performance lags at key times
When your customers want to talk to you or buy from you, but your infrastructure can’t cope, performance drops and the customer experience takes a massive hit. And when you try to fix this, you discover that you don’t have the spare capacity you need to increase resources when demand peaks.
Migrating to cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure means you can draw on the resources of your cloud provider, allowing you to automatically and seamlessly flex and scale with customer demand, in real time. And because you only pay for the resources you need as you consume them, you can optimize costs at the same time as you optimize performance and customer experience.
Cloudreach, an Atos company, is the world’s leading multi-cloud services company and the go-to strategic partner for Microsoft Azure. Our mission is to deliver the promise of cloud and drive extraordinary value for our customers. Cloudreach helps enterprises win competitive advantage through successful cloud transformation. With more than 10 years of cloud native experience, we’ve built an unmatched depth and breadth of expertise in cloud technologies and their application to business. Cloudreach’s strategic partnership with Microsoft, our deep Azure expertise and a suite of Azure specific solutions help you leverage the power of Microsoft platforms.
Find out how Cloudreach can help you get the best possible results from your cloud transformation.
- https://cloudreach1.wpenginepowered.com/en/news/smart-management-launch-delivers-continuous-cloud-transformation/
- https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-covid-19-has-pushed-companies-over-the-technology-tipping-point-and-transformed-business-forever
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/07/28/shopper-promiscuity-in-a-covid-influenced-world/?sh=33437bcb1a01
- https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/01/25/how-do-you-solve-problem-eroding-customer-loyalty
