The Evolution of Cloud Strategy: Beyond “Cloud First”

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the mantra “Cloud First” is becoming a relic of the past. Today, organizations are recognizing that mere digital transformation does not automatically translate into business value. The real challenge—and opportunity—lies in crafting a Comprehensive Modern Infrastructure and platform ecosystem that creates a journey to simplification and a seamless infrastructure ecosystem which enables a future proof and scalable approach to modern technologies while providing alignment and growth of the strategic business goals and desired outcomes. The key elements of this approach are: Hybrid Cloud and Infrastructure, multi-purpose adoption of AI, agile and proactive enterprise Security and the governance to manage open source solutions.

The New Paradigm: Comprehensive Cloud Collective

Imagine the seamless, intuitive experience of using an iPhone. Now, envision that same level of simplicity and efficiency in enterprise IT systems. This is the goal of a successful hybrid cloud and infrastructure strategy. It’s not just about moving to the cloud; it’s about optimizing the hybrid cloud environment to achieve economic value and leveraging emerging cloud technologies to not just stay ahead of the curve but to enable growth, innovation and disruption of the business. These outcomes can easily be measurable and quantifiable.

Despite the rush to adopt cloud solutions, many companies have yet to unlock the true economic value of the cloud. This shortfall is often due to a lack of an agile, comprehensive strategy that goes beyond mere adoption.

Five to Thrive: A robust hybrid cloud strategy should encompass several key areas:

1. Core Operations Digitization: Transforming traditional business operations into digital, cloud-enabled solutions to enhance efficiency and scalability.
2. IT Resilience Improvement: Building robust systems that are not only secure but also resilient to changes and challenges in the business environment.
3. IT Cost Optimization: Leveraging cloud solutions to reduce IT and business operational costs while increasing overall efficiency and simplification of core IT
4. Accelerated Product Development and Hyper scalability: Using the cloud to speed up product development cycles and scale operations rapidly as needed.
5. Innovation-Driven Growth: Harnessing the cloud to foster innovation, thereby driving business growth and maintaining competitive advantage.

Heavy Fuel of Innovation:

The business focus of a hybrid cloud and infrastructure strategy should be to fuel innovation, which impacts several critical areas as follows:

• Digital Experience: Enhancing customer and employee interactions through superior digital touchpoints.
• Industry Cloud + Marketplace: Developing specialized cloud solutions tailored to specific industry needs, complemented by a vibrant marketplace of services and applications.
• Cloud Applications and Modernization: Updating and modernizing existing applications to fully exploit cloud capabilities.
• Cloud Data and AI: Leveraging data analytics and artificial intelligence to extract actionable insights from large datasets stored in the cloud.

On the technology front, the focus shifts to driving optimization, agility, and security through enhanced platforms, networks, and infrastructure. This involves not only adopting cutting-edge technologies but also ensuring that they are seamlessly integrated and securely managed to support overall business objectives.

Beyond Adoption: Strategic Implementation

Implementing a hybrid cloud and infrastructure strategy involves more than just technology deployment; it requires a holistic approach that encompasses process innovation and rejuvenation. This strategic implementation ensures that the move to the cloud is not just a checkbox exercise but a transformational process that aligns with long-term business goals.

Conclusion

As we move forward, the narrative is no longer about being “Cloud First” but about being “Cloud Smart.” Organizations need to develop a nuanced understanding of how cloud technologies can be harnessed to drive not just operational efficiencies but also substantial business outcomes. The focus must be on building a resilient, optimized, and innovative IT infrastructure ecosystem that not only supports but also drives business growth in the digital age.

In conclusion, the shift from “Cloud First” to a more comprehensive, outcome-focused hybrid cloud and infrastructure strategy represents a mature approach to IT investment and business growth. It emphasizes the importance of strategic alignment between IT capabilities and business objectives, ensuring that enterprises not only survive but thrive in the competitive digital marketplace.

About the Author

Tanvir Khan is the Executive Vice President of Cloud, Infrastructure, Digital Workplace Services and Platforms at NTT DATA. With over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, he is a recognized technology vanguard who specializes in the areas of digital transformation, associated core technologies and value realization. Aside from being a seasoned IT practitioner, he holds an impressive track record with five patents and four pending patents in AI and automation. Tanvir can be reached online on his LinkedIn and at our company website https://www.nttdata.com/global/en/