Heart in the clouds – cloud transformation benefits you don’t want to miss

I see the cloud as being about innovation more than anything else. It is about empowering business units and developers to be more self-sufficient and to eliminate organizational silos. I also clearly see this passion is shared throughout TietoEVRY. Our job is to accelerate change and innovation for our customers. 

At the same time, we transform organizations, ensure business continuity and operational excellence and enable efficiency gains as well as improve agility and speed in order to facilitate innovations. And the cloud is very much driving these goals, so what is there not to be excited about? 

Cloud computing benefits for business: boosts adaptability for market shifts

In the Nordics, our societies are open and transparent. That is why the Nordic region is probably the most advanced region in Europe in terms of cloud adoption – we openly embrace innovations and change. 

The ultimate aspiration for our customers embarking on the cloud journey is to increase business innovation speed. Companies need to become more responsive to market shifts and, for example, changes in consumer behaviours and patterns to enable them to adapt more quickly by developing faster digital products. And this can only be done if you embrace cloud solutions with agility. 

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst accelerating the adoption of digitalization, which makes sense because, at its core, digital business is about interacting more effectively with your customer and employees.  

The cloud enables a dual agenda: renewing current business and innovating new ones 

But to embark on a successful cloud journey, the mindset needs to be right. Organizations cannot just implement the cloud – it needs to be truly adopted. Because at its core, cloud transformation means adopting a cloud operating model. It all starts by mapping out and navigating the journey.

Having a framework for managing the transition from end to end, from legacy systems to the clouds – meaning private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud – with consistency, with proper security and data governance and with consistent financial governance and technology governance. 

Then, the transformation can move forward, with certain elements of the operating model in place, such as tools and processes. Through this approach, we can get to an AI-powered cloud-oriented operating model, with DevOps and automation by design. A cloud operating model that caters to both legacy IT and cloud IT in a unified fashion can be a north star for the journey to nimble, nearly invisible Ops 

So, there you go – the cloud has a dual agenda so to speak. It provides a push both to renew and optimize current businesses and to innovate new ones. Also, with the mindset of adopting the cloud through operation model transformation, the higher speed of innovation can be truly reached. This then results in the wanted business outcomes and true cloud benefits: business agility, cost reductions, operational resiliency, increased security, and always up-to-date environments. 

The cloud is not a destination, but a journey 

I personally believe that organizations cannot afford to turn their back on the cloud. Simple as that. An organization cannot protect its business by holding onto the past. The only way to remain competitive is by transforming, by leading the way for your customers and other main stakeholders. 

Companies who have not yet adopted the cloud might now learn the hard way why modernizing IT and leveraging the cloud is so important. The ongoing situation and sudden changes in patterns and consumption is proof that organizations need to be both responsive to these changes and agile enough to adapt. I see a clear correlation between cloud adoption and cloud maturity of companies and how well they perform financially. 

Transforming through the cloud does not mean leaving everything else behind. The key is to embrace end-to-end thinking – having an operating model that preserves the strengths of legacy systems as well as the modernization possible through the cloud.  

The challenge of achieving these two aspects under one consistent umbrella of integrated and customer-context-rich AI-powered operations excites me every time. With an enthusiastic or, dare I say, passionate cloud partner, even the most difficult transitions can be accomplished smoothly and to great effect.