Agility, Flexibility & Insight. Is That Your Cloud?
As they look at technology options, many organizations are taking a “cloud first” approach. Others are adopting cloud for some segments of their business. Probably the most prominent choice by enterprise organizations is a hybrid approach–some of their systems and content reside in the cloud, some on-premises and in some cases, integrations between these systems.
Here is a look at some benefits organizations can expect to achieve by moving to cloud and hybrid implementations for their applications.
Better Agility
The cloud is all about speed. When an organization makes a decision to implement a system to solve a business problem, they want to get the problem solved FAST. Once the decision is made, the organization is eager to get going and start realizing benefits.
Cloud providers help with the need for speed and agility in a number of ways. First, they manage the capital expenditures, the infrastructure and the software installation or configuration. The customer can then purchase on the more convenient, generally easier operating expense method, paying on a period basis for services rendered. The customer does not face the lag time for hardware and software acquisition as they would in-house. They are able to get up and running quickly with the new system.
Equally important is the fact that customers in the cloud get the most recent application releases. When their software is upgraded to the latest release from their provider, whether that is a SaaS or a managed service application, they can ensure they are on the most recent release, taking advantage of modern features. This benefit should not be underestimated as it means that modern mobile and customer experiences are available on a frequent basis, helping the organization to keep pace with the market and ahead of their competition.
Better Flexibility
Cloud implementations provide a lot of choice and flexibility. Organizations have choices that range from implementing in a public infrastructure and managing their own application, to partnering with a cloud provider who implements and completely manages the application and all its dependencies for them. While the range of choice can raise some questions, it provides organizations with the option to manage part or all of their application and to share part or all of their information in different cloud environments.
Organizations can make their deployment decisions based on criteria such as the sensitivity of the information, compliance regulations and business priorities. According to Osterman Research*, 56% of survey respondents indicated that the safety of sensitive and confidential data was a prime reason for them to avoid public cloud, followed closely by 55% highlighting concerns about where data is stored. These are important considerations that may drive organizations to look at private cloud or hybrid implementations. With a carefully chosen cloud provider they can choose a hybrid implementation with integrated systems in one or more clouds and on-premises.
Cloud can also help IT organizations meet the rising demand for top system performance, scalability and around-the-clock support. Cloud vendors have the ability to quickly scale up the operating environment to meet increased business needs. Their level of system up-time (or service level) is very high, well understood and forms part of the contractual terms for their service.
Better Insight
Some organizations already recognize the insight that can be gained from operating in the cloud but many organizations are just starting to tap into the true benefits in this area. Applications built for the cloud (such as SaaS applications) generally have system monitoring built in to enable organizations to easily understand A) what their customers are doing as they use the application B)where expected behavior is driving business and C) where unexpected behavior is taking place. They can easily adapt to these conditions, test options and capitalize on trends to increase engagement and sales. Social interaction can have equally powerful results, helping organizations to become closer to their customers, understand them better, improve the customer experience and build long term healthy relationships.
Analytics technology continues to advance and can work across huge volumes of data. It can review and analyze data providing insight into business taking place, sentiment of social interactions and even provide predictive guidance that can help maximize customer and market value. Analytics can provide data visualization, dashboards and reporting in personalized form, enabling organizations to make rapid data-driven business decisions. Analytics can drive significant competitive advantage and help to find advantageous new business models.
Don’t think of cloud as just another deployment option. There are significant benefits inherent in cloud and hybrid deployments that are difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional on-premises systems. As organizations consider their cloud options, they should review their business objectives and ensure their cloud choice will provide them with the most relevant benefits.
About OpenText
OpenText enables the digital world, creating a better way for organizations to work with information, on premises or in the cloud. For more information about OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC), visit opentext.com.
(*) “The What, the Why and the How of Hybrid Cloud” by Osterman Research Inc. 2016