Cloud Strategy
In 2020, Service-centric computing models for small and medium-sized business (SMB) are the standard rather than the exception. Whether you prefer to call it Software-As-A-Service (SaaS), Hosted Applications, or just “the Cloud”, much of the risk and cost of the day-to-day computing needs for running a business have been shifted elsewhere. SMBs are using many of the tools and services that were once the domain of Enterprise-sized businesses, where dedicated IT departments plan and deploy hardware and software to meet the communication, financial planning/reporting, sales and marketing needs of the organization. SMBs, no longer constrained by their size, are gaining insights and moving forward in ways that were formerly the domain of large business. Pursuing the benefits of Cloud Services is no surprise, but are choices in this space being driven by the marketing efforts of cloud service providers or by rational business need and IT Strategy?
While the downward movement of enterprise performance, availability, connectedness and features has been made possible by the Cloud, it presents SMBs with challenges that many don’t know that they have. Shifting risk and costs to a third-party requires many considerations and compromises. While the benefits are not in doubt, businesses moving to or already moved to the Cloud should be addressing and managing several aspects of the solution as the integral part of the business that it is.
The most commonly discussed compromise in the Cloud solutions space is security, but what this means will depend on the business. Some organizations are concerned about unauthorized access, controlling data which is no longer managed solely by employees or even constrained by four walls or national borders. Other organizations weigh the risks of competitors gaining access to proprietary knowledge or the embarrassment of internal discussions making the headlines. Regardless of the form that it takes, protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information by establishing physical and logical controls is a necessary step.
For many companies, leveraging enormous data sets in a cost-efficient way is the biggest draw to Cloud services. Consolidating and combining customer data with inventory, financial and market data can yield insights that were previously unattainable. Consider, however, that data as a commodity is a relatively recent phenomenon for SMBs. Data ownership, retention and destruction are sometimes secondary to extracting the value from the data through the business analytics capabilities provided by the Cloud. Maintaining the integrity, availability, and accuracy of business data while developing the environment for ongoing data and analytics capabilities must be part of every Cloud Strategy.
Even the most thorough and detailed business case for the use of Cloud Services in an organization can be strained under the constant pressure of changes in the industry, demands of users and unexpected events such as COVID-19. There is a constant blurring of boundaries between consumer and corporate services, especially when a dramatic shift in how we work occurs, and there is a sudden push to non-traditional access and forms of work. The ongoing downward movement of enterprise features and capabilities does not stop at SMBs, consumers accessing public Cloud services to perform the functions of the business, either from the cottage or from quarantine, present unique challenges that organizations must address.
Irrespective of the maturity of your organization’s Cloud Services, from design or development to stewardship, all businesses benefit from a formal Cloud Services Strategy. The process of formally documenting the expectations of your Cloud Services investment, from acceptable costs to how to extricate the business when value is no longer present, are essential considerations for a successful and value-driven approach to using the Cloud.
