Accenture: Top 5 elements to capture value from cloud
In a business climate of uncertainty, shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 90% of enterprises have now adopted cloud technology in a bid to be more agile but many are failing to maximise value, according to a new report from Accenture.
“Everyone knows the cloud is the place to be: It has offered greater flexibility, more agility and new opportunities for innovation,” comments Accenture who have outlined five essential elements for business to capture the full value of their cloud technology.
Despite the high number of enterprises migrating to cloud, many have stalled and fail to achieve the value expected from their initiatives, claims Accenture’s report, Cloud’s the urgent imperative: Maximise its value.
Stuck in experimental mindset
“Some organisations got stuck in an experimental mindset without a sense of where their cloud journey was headed. Others struggled to make a clear business case for scaling up their use of cloud,” comments Accenture.
The result? “Most enterprises have, on average, only about 20-40% of their workloads in the cloud, most of which are the easier, less complex ones. And nearly two-thirds have said they haven’t achieved the results expected of their cloud initiatives to date.”
For many companies, the pandemic also exposed pre-existing weaknesses in their models and systems. According to research, conducted by Accenture before the pandemic, only the top 10% of companies had mastered systems resilience.
“It’s imperative that the companies that went into the crisis with significant gaps embrace the promise of cloud now to enable short- and long-term change. If they do, they can mitigate business risk, maximise human potential, enable business transformation and emerge stronger, able to change and thrive despite ongoing uncertainty,” says the report.
Thoughtful migration to the cloud
According to Accenture an intelligent cloud journey should be a balance of business drivers, technology needs and industry dynamics. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach,” comments Accenture.
“Your cloud initiative should start with defining the business value that this technology transformation can enable: identify where impact will be derived fastest across the business through new capabilities, cost efficiencies, or risk mitigation.”
Success in the use of cloud can go beyond technology says the report as this way of working looks set to change organisational structures, business models and human performance.
“With the value identified, you can then map out the journey and determine how cloud will enable the overall business strategy and ambition,” said Accenture who lay out the five essential elements to capturing the full value of cloud:
- Migrate and scale up
Get your workloads to cloud rapidly, securely and with confidence by selecting the right infrastructure for your business needs.
- Get the most from the hyperscalers
Apply the innovations and investments from the big cloud providers to create value for your business.
- Modernise and accelerate
Ramp up your organisational speed and agility by restructuring architectures, applications and data for cloud.
- Innovate and grow
Use cloud as a digital transformation lever to create greater differentiation and competitiveness in your industry.
- Run and optimise
Adopt new ways of operating that push your cloud estate to ever higher levels of business performance and sustainability.
“We’re now at an inflection point for scaling cloud adoption and maximising its value across five essential elements: migration, hyperscaler integration, modernization, management and innovation,” says Accenture.
“Cloud has proven its centrality to resilient, sustainable enterprise operations and future competitive advantage. If you’re not substantially on the cloud, you can’t hope to unlock the capabilities a modern business requires - greater flexibility, more agility and new opportunities for innovation to help you disrupt your industry.
“Enterprises that continue to delay a shift to cloud at scale aren’t just incurring an opportunity cost, they’re risking their very survival.”
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