How IT Services Industry Can Leverage Cloud Consulting for Growth?

Today, arbitrarily, organizations from many industries are testing different cloud flavours for specific tasks. The adaptability of the cloud has altered the playing field because even smaller businesses can now utilise top-notch infrastructure on a pay-per-use basis. All organizational levels, including the C-suite, corporate IT, and end users, have adopted the cloud as a result. Despite this, certain industries continue to be hesitant to adopt the cloud for security reasons.

Organizations need the latest technologies to stay ahead of their rivals in the competitive environment of today. It is crucial for IT leaders to employ cutting-edge technology that can boost the value of the company's operations.

With the cloud becoming a business word rather than just a technical phrase, companies have been forced to develop novel, game-changing solutions. Nonetheless, several experts have agreed that cloud computing should be taken into consideration if your business is at a period of expansion and has to invest its funds in high-potential projects.

Take a look at the following statistics that prove why you should invest in cloud consulting today: Ø Around 100 zettabytes of data will be kept on the cloud by 2025. Ø 81% of businesses have already planned out or are currently developing a multi-cloud strategy. Ø Cloud computing powers 67% of enterprise infrastructure. Ø With a 32% market share, Amazon Web Services leads the cloud computing industry. Ø By 2026, Platform as a Service (PaaS) will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19.6%. Ø Statistics on cloud usage for 2022 show that 60% of businesses use private, public, and hybrid cloud workplaces.

Several CIOs concur that the cloud market will experience a paradigm shift, moving from a competitive to a simpler environment, which will result in better prices, better comprehension, and stability.

Here are a few ways in which enterprises are using the cloud to innovate their products and services:

· Rapid prototyping and rollout

The cloud not only enables scattered teams to swiftly prototype complicated deployments, but also speeds up product release while fostering a culture of continual enhancement. By leveraging the

early mover advantage, businesses may more quickly and cheaply introduce new goods to the market.

· Power highly customized journeys

With a centralised data management approach and thorough cross-integration of the corporate toolkit, the cloud can enable highly tailored user journeys, aiding businesses in quickly gaining new clients while considerably improving NPS scores.

· Modularity and technological maturity

The cloud acts as a gathering place for various technologies, including IoT and AI, in extremely competitive industries like manufacturing and biopharma. Because of this, it can activate real-time and high-precision use-cases, assisting businesses in moving up the ladder in their particular industries.

Benefits of the Cloud

1. Impact on Subscription-Based Services

The cloud not only makes product innovation possible but also greatly facilitates subscription model innovation. It should come as no surprise that the XaaS (anything-as-a-service) economy is expected to expand at a CAGR of 25% through 2027, as the majority of B2B and B2C clients seek greater financial control over their spending across multiple categories. Moreover, the XaaS economy lowers the entrance barrier by large margins, making the business accessible to a broader consumer base.

Models for cloud subscription management can unite the teams in charge of finance, IT, sales, and product. Additionally, the cloud can stop revenue leaks by automating the quote-to-cash cycle and tracking utilisation levels with extreme precision. In the end, subscription services can improve the accuracy of revenue projections and assist businesses in creating a more consistent revenue stream through the cloud.

2. Modernize Enterprise Systems

Without a question, the cloud is having a huge positive impact on various High Tech sector segments. Lift-and-shift cloud adoption, however, is typically not lucrative. Legacy apps need to be updated if the cloud is to be profitable. Nevertheless, this necessitates a large degree of rearchitecting, refactoring, rehosting, or modularization. Yet, implementing the cloud in accordance with a well-planned roadmap can make it easier, more lucrative, and longer-lasting in the long run.

To update enterprise systems, CIOs must comprehend their legacy and target systems from a cloud-first perspective and reinvent their applications from an ecosystem approach. Since it offers the flexibility of a phased revitalisation approach, a side-by-side deployment and reconfiguration, and one-off deployments, the cloud emerges as a crucial enabler in this process. This aids CIOs in selecting the appropriate approach based on their particular company scenario.

3. Enabling Remote Work With Cloud

Notwithstanding its technical advantages, the cloud's role in enabling work-from-anywhere and hybrid work models, which are anticipated to be the future of work across industries and geographical regions, is one of its most obvious advantages. When the epidemic caused widespread lockdowns around the world, cloud adoption substantially increased. This was demonstrated by the fact that cloud provider stocks doubled when everything else was disintegrating.

Here are three ways that the cloud empowers the hybrid/remote work model in addition to making it possible:

o Cloud enables seamless access: The ability to log in from any location at any time and continue where an employee left off the last time they signed in is fundamentally made possible by an organization that links its work platforms and environments with the enterprise cloud.

o Reduced infrastructure costs: The cloud allows businesses scale their work settings (like code production environments) in accordance with the hours at which the greatest number of people log in and downscale over the weekends and after-hours, so reducing the need for elaborate physical workspaces.

o Better security and compliance: By designing their workflows around specific countries and in compliance with local laws, businesses in sectors with stringent rules and compliance requirements can use the cloud to meet data residency, circulation, and usage needs.

Adoption Obstacles

Adoption of the cloud still faces several challenges, such as organisations' reluctance to abandon their outdated IT practices. The main challenge has been in transforming the conventional IT function and the conventional IT support team into a service with the capabilities required to utilize cloud services. Those who started in a different, pre-cloud period may find it tough because it can mean a big change in operations.

Consumers can have unrealistic expectations of cloud services. Organizations would still have the same IT difficulties, such as administering anti-virus procedures or keeping track of IT performance records, even as they moved their IT requirements to the cloud. They can employ managed services that allow them to approach it in a modular method in order to keep workforce flexibility.

1st obstacle: Resistance from stakeholders and staff

The only thing that is constant is change, but we have a built-in tendency to fight it. Nonetheless, getting support from all parties involved—especially employees—is crucial. Since they make up the bulk of users, promoting adoption at scale becomes much simpler once they embrace the new business tool.

What is the Solution?

Set definite goals for the team

Create a change management strategy that details the change's goals, the employees' responsibilities during the transition, and the steps they should take to get ready for the digital adoption voyage that lies ahead. Make sure to include team goals and connect them to organisational or company objectives so that everyone sees digital adoption as a team effort.

2nd obstacle: Complicated software and technologies

Any new digital technology, especially complex software, can at first seem scary. It makes sense given that change can be unnerving, particularly if your staff have been trained to complete tasks manually or in a particular way for a long time. How can you then assist them in quickly adjusting to the new software?

What is the Solution?

Employ an adaptive digital adoption strategy to successfully lead employees

First, by providing them with step-by-step instructions from the beginning, remove the element of uncertainty from the digital adoption platform. When they become accustomed to the software, this encourages end users to believe they are moving in the correct direction.

What’s Next?

Old IT software is one area where cloud services have a huge requirement to be transformed. Most IT applications are 20 years old, according to recent studies. Due to a perception that changing would be risky, businesses continue to use these outdated programmes. But, remaining unchanged has a risk of its own because these businesses would eventually lose their edge and competitiveness.

If used properly, the cloud can power some of the most cutting-edge services and goods by facilitating easy collaboration and accelerating time-to-market. The cloud is a key component of the data-driven future of business because it is at the core of effective data management strategies and subscription services.

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