Cloud remains one of the most powerful ways for an organisation to unlock its digital potential, and the past 18 months are proof.
The momentum gained since 2020 is driving companies towards deeper integration, transformation and comprehensive cloud adoption.
For many companies, the goal is to ensure infrastructure remains relevant, capable and sustainable in the wake of the pandemic. A goal emphasised by LogicMonitor’s “Cloud 2025: The future of workloads in a cloud first, post-COVID-19 world” survey that found at least 95% of global IT decision-makers believe workloads will be in the cloud over the next five years, with 87% citing the pandemic as the fuel that’s ignited the cloud fire.
But cloud is failing customers. Spiralling costs, limited gains, poor visibility, weak deliverables and minimal return on investment have left a bad taste in the proverbial business mouth.
This is a view shared by Gartner, with the research giant pointing out that even though companies are planning to increase their cloud adoption over the next few years, there are challenges around cost and implementation that have to be managed more effectively.
The question is why? Gartner highlights six common mistakes that include: the wrong team, rushed app assessments, the wrong emphasis, poor landing zone design, mistimed work effort and hidden costs. Every one of these factors can drive costs up and expectations down.
However, there is another issue at play here. The misconception is that cloud is easy. That it’s a simple lift and shift, plug and play, point and click exercise that requires only that the business point at a problem in order for cloud to make it go away.
It is speed that underpins the value of cloud.
The reality is that cloud is complicated, and it should be. To deliver what it promises, cloud has to be carefully and strategically implemented to ensure it actually meets business goals, has a long-term sustainable impact, and can be rapidly deployed to deliver immediate results – speed is always going to be a critical factor when making any cloud decision.
It is speed that underpins the value of cloud. Today, the business can simply subscribe to a cloud service and consume it. A CRM system can be integrated and rolled out in days. A contact centre solution can be setup and managed within hours.
Cloud is solutions on steroids. It’s got all that speed wrapped up and ready to make the business go. However, to ensure any cloud deployment is as rapid as the promise on the tin, it has to be approached practically.
The complexity of cloud doesn’t lie in the services it delivers, but in how it has been integrated into the organisation. Because many companies believe cloud is so simple, they believe implementation will be simple. And here is where the road gets rocky, because here is where the expertise behind the cloud solution needs to be the expertise that implements it.
A great example is the integration of a new CRM platform. Yes, the business can install it, click the buttons and get the system to work, but without in-depth expertise, it won’t deliver to the full potential of the platform. It won’t dive deeply into your fields, customers and systems, because it hasn’t been optimised for your business.
Rapid cloud deployment isn’t point and click. It’s leveraging the expertise of organisations that fully understand the depth and breadth of their solutions, and that know how the background technicalities will potentially impact on the business.
With laser-like focus and coherent planning, a cloud deployment can be rapid and deliver exceptional results because it has been customised, optimised and tightly integrated across multiple systems, legacy technology and layers of the business.
A deep understanding of the business and how a specific cloud platform will fit within it will bypass the complexities of unexpected costs, poorly integrated systems and mediocre performance.
Cloud is complicated, but only in terms of ensuring that it works for you. Then, cloud is simple.
And the right cloud solution that’s bespoke, designed for your strategy and ticks your productivity boxes? Well, that’s the solution that’s going to deliver seamless simplicity at speed. Want a 300% increase in sales? Use a CRM system that’s optimised for you.
Want to transform customer service with a contact centre that fits your business? Use a cloud-powered solution that’s customised for your unique requirements. Cloud is hard, but it’s easy with the right partner.
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