By Vishnu Bhat
No longer does a company need to hope that its in-house IT staff is keeping up with the rapid evolution of the Cloud environment. A holistic hub enables the rapid creation, adoption, and governance of Cloud services across any ecosystem.
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I recently heard a management expert talk about a business fundamental that many of us are guilty of overlooking from time to time. Your company might have the best vision in the world. But without the proper execution, a vision is just a vision.
The advice – that there essentially is no vision when there is no execution – is ideally suited, I think, to enterprises trying to figure out how best to implement a Cloud programme. According to a recent study which polled 300 executives of large global organisations. In this study, “Simplify and Innovate the Way You Consume the Cloud,” 77 % of respondents said that they are using or planning to use IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS for a wide range of business applications in the next two years. Their applications truly run the gamut; they include Web content and experience management, enterprise management software, BI software, business process management, enterprise content management, and industry-specific processes.
Therein lies a common issue: consolidating those applications into an easy-to-use interface. Those same executives surveyed face the challenge of how best to execute on an appropriate and truly effective Cloud programme. For example, 83 % of the respondents said they are struggling to bring together all their Cloud services to traditional IT.
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With so many options, it can become a challenge to settle on the right course of action – especially if you’re relatively “immature” when it comes to the rapidly evolving Cloud space.
How best to assess your organisational maturity when it comes to the Cloud? Well, for starters, is your company in the following group of relative newcomers to the Cloud? That is, just 17 % of the executives surveyed think that all assets are available in one self-service environment. Only 27 % of them think that the level of self-service and transparency is sufficient. If you and your organisation fall within either or both of these groups, then it’s time, I think, to choose the Cloud ecosystem that best improves the experience of your customers.
I recommend making customer service your company’s top priority and then building a comprehensive Cloud strategy around it. The advantage of this strategy is that you have an array of customers. First there are the external customers. But your internal business stakeholders are also your customers. That’s why it’s vital to work with the right partner to define and build a robust Cloud ecosystem for those needs.
Okay, so suppose you get past that very important starting point. Your maturity level vis-à-vis the Cloud has skyrocketed. But there’s still relatively a lot to learn. For example, in a recent study, executives at 66 % of companies polled said they are either “concerned” or “very concerned” about the complexity involved in managing and governing a hybrid cloud environment. The reason is mainly that because up until recently, organisations adopted Cloud programmes in a very ad hoc fashion. Sometimes their in-house IT departments couldn’t keep up with those developments.
If an organisation is uncertain about how to make the Cloud a part of its customer-facing strategy, then it’s time for a Cloud ecosystem integrator that can orchestrate all of the functions and programs across the Cloud environments. A Cloud ecosystem hub, for example, is a solution that provides a single window that helps enterprises build, manage, and govern a unified hybrid Cloud environment. A holistic hub enables the rapid creation, adoption, and governance of Cloud services across any ecosystem.
It’s safe to say that when an enterprise is using the Cloud with confidence, then it has become a part of its strategic arsenal. That’s why having a partner to help integrate all aspects of the Cloud is a vital part of your organisation’s technology journey.
The author is Senior Vice President & Global Head, Cloud & Infrastructure Services, Infosys
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