CIO OPINION
courses’ basis where workloads are matched
to deployment models based on risk levels,
information sensitivity, intellectual property,
performance needs and other concerns. But
I believe that the current pandemic is an
event that will see a significant tilt towards
broader cloud adoption.
The world has changed
After COVID-19, it seems unlikely that we will
go immediately back to a reliance on cities,
crowded roads and transit systems, offices,
galleries and stadia that place individuals
cheek by jowl with others. Remote working
will surely rise and that makes cloud an even
more attractive proposition than ever before.
Organisations will need to re-think
operations, processes and Business
Continuity, and they will re-engineer business
models as they adapt to new realities.
In retail for example, shoppers will want
different experiences from crowded shops
and high streets. That may mean broader
pavements, longer shopping hours, limited
numbers of people in-store and new ways to
pay without cash.
As Mark Kleinman, Professor of Public Policy
at Kings College London, has written:
“
THERE ARE MANY
WAYS TO DELIVER
FLEXIBILITY, BUT
THE CLOUD IS A
PERFECT VEHICLE
IN LOTS OF WAYS.
“Almost overnight, many of the benefits
of large, global cities have become
vulnerabilities. What was previously greatly
desired – crowds, proximity, connectivity,
openness – everything that contributes
to what economists call ‘agglomeration
benefits’ and urbanists call ‘vibrancy and
vitality’ – is now feared.”
We don’t know exactly how big such
changes will be or how long they will persist
but it seems likely that they will mandate
unprecedented organisational flexibility.
If they hadn’t already realised by now,
companies will need to be more flexible,
adaptive and agile, so that the next time
there is a massive interruption to ‘business
as usual’ there can be no excuses.
Already we see companies that have been
anchored by legacy systems failing to
move fast enough and respond to the new
realities of virtual business. And this in turn
will complete the tectonic shift in favour of
cloud computing.
Reasons to move on cloud now
Of course, there are many ways to deliver
flexibility, but the cloud is a perfect vehicle in
lots of ways.
Centralisation. Cloud offers a hub for
managing content where versions of
documents and audits are maintained for
process order and regulatory compliance.
Think of how Box or Dropbox, for example,
are replacing lossy processes such as sending
email attachments or adding document
versions to file shares.
Collaboration. Cloud is a perfect fit for
meetings of teams or value-chain networks.
Any cloud app is inherently collaborative.
That will become more and more important
as companies build ecosystems of partners
to co-curate and ideate for products and
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