Business leaders are sold on cloud’s pivotal role in advancing the digital agenda. Yet many remain in the dark about what’s required to modernize the IT estate in the cloud — a disconnect that can hamper meaningful business transformation.
Companies clearly see value in cloud investments to drive core business objectives. According to the Foundry “Cloud Computing Study 2024,” companies are moving to cloud to improve security and governance (34%), bolster scalability (33%), and accelerate adoption of critical technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (29%). Moving to cloud is also viewed as direct path to real business value — 60% of the Foundry survey respondents correlated the embrace of cloud capabilities with a sustained increase in revenue.
Although companies are sold on the merits of cloud for improved efficiencies, heightened security, and cost reduction, too many business leaders fail to grasp the transformative potential of modernizing systems and applications with cloud-native capabilities. They either underestimate the benefits, harbor a perception that transformation at scale is too expensive, or are worried about the time and resources it might take to navigate what they still consider to be novel territory, explains Jake Burns, enterprise strategist at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
“The roadblocks usually come down to underestimating the ROI,” Burns says. “But cloud modernization can be done incrementally at low cost and deliver immediate value.”
Rallying the troops for full-scale modernization
There are many ways to champion cloud-native modernization. Among the most impactful:
- Develop a clearly defined business case that aligns cloud modernization strategies with specific business outcomes.
- Up your communications game and clearly articulate the value of cloud modernization, not in technical terms, but framed with the core objectives of the business.
- Emphasize benefits such as agility, scalability, and the push for continuous innovation — again, factors that are widely recognized to result in competitive advantage.
- Educate executives on the value of modernization with specific examples that showcase how the paradigm ushers in new ways of doing business.
- Target pilot projects that address critical pain points to demonstrate value, garner broader buy-in, and build momentum.
- Challenge IT to change its mental model to “anything is possible in the cloud.”
- Be iterative and don’t aim for a project that takes weeks or longer to deliver actual value.
AWS and its partner network can help IT organizations at each step of the modernization journey. With 200+ services spanning myriad technology areas and a deep bench of domain experts at the ready, AWS and its partners can help build a business case, advise on technology choices, guide implementation, assist in change management and skills development programs, and orchestrate managed services.
Companies accustomed to incremental improvements with each new technology release will see benefits skyrocket with a well-crafted cloud modernization plan. “With cloud, and more recently with AI, the amount of value is unprecedented,” Burns says. “We’re just scratching the surface.”
Want more modernization tips? Check out our next article: “What should I look for in a cloud modernization partner?” Or learn how AWS can help you reduce costs, gain efficiencies, and make the most of your existing investments.