Digital transformation strategy

Should you transform your business to use the Cloud? How do you do that?

If you don’t, you risk being overtaken by new disruptive market entrants. No industry is immune to the threat of disruption by businesses that have adopted cloud strategy as a means to develop their business beyond all recognition. Perhaps you need to change or you risk being toppled by more agile companies?

And you may miss out on all the other advantages we have discussed. Can you afford not to adopt Cloud Technology?

Your business needs to develop a Digital Transformation Strategy. How do you do this?

Your management team needs to focus on its objectives. How will this move give you competitive advantage? Can you leverage this to accelerate growth? Will this strengthen your business strategy?

Can it empower the management team, make staff more productive, drive innovation, acquire new customers, retain existing customers, build loyalty, and develop the brand?

What about your virtual teams, what effect on their performance will access to data in real-time deliver for them?

What are your competitors doing?

Where is the market heading?

Do you need to find an IT partner? A strategic delivery partner, an infrastructure deliverer? Do you have the necessary skills and knowledge in-house? Who will take responsibility for the project?

Will you achieve cost savings?

Decide whether to use public or private Cloud access, how to avoid upheaval, which parts of the business will benefit from the use of Cloud technology, data security.

What about issues of data management, security and compliance?

Perhaps some brainstorming would help here.

Imagine you could start with a clean sheet, with no legacy processes and systems to accommodate.
What would be your business mission if it were a new start up today? How can the cloud enable you to run the business effectively?

You might want to think about how you could develop the business, experiment a little. You can buy IT services as you need them now, grow rapidly, and reap other advantages.

Conclusion

So the Cloud is allowing companies to transform the way they work, it limits investment and frees up working capital. It offers agility, flexibility and scalability. It now a case of not whether a business incorporates Cloud technology, but when and how. The Cloud improves user experience, helps business improve performance, engage with customers, and innovate rapidly.

Industry observers say the Cloud is firmly established in company digital strategies, and it is the end of the beginning for enterprise Cloud. They see a second wave of Cloud technology as it merges with other digital technologies, and the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes a reality

The Internet of Things will rely heavily on Cloud technology as it will need to process and make sense of monumental amounts of data. It is the insights form this data that will drive it.

No doubt about it, every business will need to engage with the Cloud sooner or later. I hope this series of modules has helped you understand some of the issues involved and encouraged you to address them.