4 Reasons Business Leaders Need to Accelerate Cloud Adoption The business case for delaying migration is sounding increasingly hollow.
By Andrej Jonovic Edited by Micah Zimmerman
Key Takeaways
- The cloud gives businesses an unprecedented opportunity to modernize operations, strengthen customer services, and reinvest savings into future growth initiatives.
- It also represents a much more environmentally sustainable model than maintaining legacy data centers and on-premises infrastructure.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
All too often, BIZ Experiencess and business leaders wake up to find they have become shackled by outdated technology that limits growth in their organizations. The list of challenges is seemingly endless: duplication caused by short-term workarounds, siloed data, high operating costs, difficulties scaling and security vulnerabilities from patching gaps across different systems. There is growing recognition that hosting computer services and data remotely on the cloud is the answer instead of keeping systems on-premises. However, organizations across healthcare, manufacturing, education, and the government sector, in particular, have been slow to adopt.
In the public sector, citizens are experiencing rising costs as public organizations struggle to tackle cybersecurity threats and be prepared for future issues such as climate change-related instability. In the U.K. and continental Europe, some leaders have seen the light. In 2012, the U.K. launched a program called G-Cloud to promote the adoption of cloud computing across government agencies. By 2016, cloud usage had jumped from 38% to 78% of public services, and annual savings totaled over £725 million ($908 million). Over 90% of cloud solutions suppliers are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Germany and France also launched the GAIA-X project to establish a secure European cloud infrastructure, and it has put in place a marketplace connecting public institutions with service providers called GovMarket. The same kind of progress is possible in the private sector. By accelerating migration to the cloud in a secure, structured way, business leaders can start freeing up funds to reinvest in other priorities.
Related: How Small And Medium Businesses Can Save Money and Increase Productivity With The Cloud
1. Save money through cloud efficiencies
In the U.S., many state governments still use "legacy" systems that are 25 to 30 years old. Across both the public and private sectors, the cost, time, and complexity involved in full migration have resulted in hesitance. Yet maintaining difficult-to-maintain software is unsustainable, given the rising demand for AI. America's 2,700 data centers, for instance, are consuming more and more electricity at a time when its power grid is being pushed to capacity.
However, the UK's Crown Hosting cloud facility has reduced customers' electricity usage by 75% and carbon emissions by 99.9%. Research funded by Google concluded that businesses could save between 60% and 85% in energy costs when migrating to cloud-based services — savings that can then be reinvested in R&D, marketing or talent acquisition. To pursue these savings, BIZ Experiencess should:
- Conducted reviews of current IT spending and worked with cloud solution providers.
- Collaborate with providers to build a cohesive plan that minimizes operational impacts, reduces overhead costs, and manages the complex transition to the cloud.
Related: What is Cloud Computing? Here's Everything You Need to Know.
2. Protect data with cloud security
While businesses worry about entrusting their data to third-party service providers, cloud-stored data is more secure and has more backup/recovery capabilities than on-premises storage. The 2018 Marriott data breach, which exposed the credit card records of hundreds of millions of hotel guests, came back to the company's failure to properly integrate and secure the outdated IT systems it inherited after acquiring Starwood Hotels. In another incident, Citizens in Germany lost access to vital services for over a week after a cyberattack on outdated on-premises solutions.
While data sovereignty and security concerns have made some companies reluctant to fully commit to cloud adoption, these incidents highlight how maintaining the status quo can prove costlier. By consolidating infrastructure across multiple data centers, the cloud reduces the potential vulnerabilities cybercriminals can exploit compared to on-premises systems. This approach also provides data backups — if one center is impacted, others continue without disruption.
To address vulnerabilities, prioritize migrating sensitive data to cloud platforms with backup data storage, user-access restrictions, and regular cybersecurity updates. Transitioning even a portion of operations to a hybrid cloud model could help avoid crippling disruptions in the event of an attack or natural disaster.
3. Drive progress with cloud-powered innovation
The cloud naturally supports innovation, as Rolls-Royce showed when it adopted a cloud-based solution called IntelligentEngine. The platform uses cloud storage, cloud computing and machine learning to optimize airplane engine performance, simulate flight conditions and predict maintenance demand up to years in advance. This is expected to result in less time spent on repairs and inspections "on-wing" — and fewer passenger delays.
While the pharmaceutical industry is one of the slowest adopters of cloud solutions, Mayo Clinic is showing the way in healthcare. It is testing a new cloud-based search tool that allows much easier access to patient information across imaging records and labs. Normally a time-consuming process, this search can be achieved with a simple query, allowing for greater collaboration among medical professionals. As advanced as these solutions may appear, businesses don't have to aim so high initially. I suggest conducting so-called "cloud pilots" trial solutions on a micro-level to see how cloud-first strategies may spark progress in their businesses.
4. Deliver better services to customers in the cloud
Using cloud-based AI to automate document processing allows finance and HR functions to accelerate processing times for customer inquiries and candidate assessments. Scaling is a real issue for companies dealing with a huge volume of data that is dependent on local storage. Moving to the cloud allows them to pull data from a central repository for greater accuracy and deeper insights across operations.
To improve their customers' services, business leaders should audit current service processes to identify where cloud optimization could reduce wait times and increase access to critical systems. This can be coupled with customer surveys and market research to help align modernization priorities with customer needs.
