By now, you know what digital transformation (DX) is. You know ours is a connected world. You see certain companies thriving amid revolutionary technological change. You recognize that organizations resistant to change, or slow to change, are losing market share and putting their future viability at risk. You can read the writing on the wall, and it tells you the time to change is now.
All hands needed
Sometimes the component parts of a team are ready and willing to make that all-important leap into digital but leadership lacks vision or urgency. This is unfortunate as it requires more than partial commitment for a company to transform. Organizations must buy into change from the top down and from the bottom up.
Rise of cloud
Cloud is a key driver of DX, and has disrupted the traditional IT model. Cloud computing is a huge opportunity for enterprises to streamline their operations. Modern cloud offerings can simplify a company’s IT infrastructure and free vital resources to focus on strategy and innovation. As executives get more involved in IT buying decisions, and as IT is increasingly relied on to help companies develop, deploy, and deliver, cloud moves from being a tack-on service to an essential ingredient in a company’s transformation.
Growth trend
Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure will reach $266 billion USD in 2021, according to the latest update to the Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Spending Guide released by IDC. Spending on public cloud services is expected to hit $128 billion in 2017, which represents an impressive 25.4 per cent increase from 2016.
Misgivings remain
There is no doubt cloud will change the landscape of business. It already is. And yet, some company leaders remain resistant to the idea of migrating their key business applications to the cloud. Among the more common concerns: possible downtime; security; cost; and control over key processes. To those who have already embraced cloud, these concerns have for the most part been overcome; however, to those who have yet to jump in with both feet, they are legitimate and keep them tethered to their current position, which is one of caution and hesitation.
Timely webinar
Join IT World Canada CIO Jim Love and Justin Kurtenbach, Chris Holdsworth and Jason Bank, all of Stratiform, for a webinar on November 15th entitled “Leveraging Azure Cloud: An Essential Step in Your Digital Transformation.” In this session, find out:
- How to fully leverage Azure as a workhorse cloud solution and support pillar of your company’s ongoing DX
- How Stratiform worked with several clients to:
- use Azure Automation and Desired State Configuration;
- customize IP to deploy Azure infrastructure in a repeatable and secure fashion;
- leverage Azure Backup, System Center Data Protection Manager and ASR to secure and protect data; and
- apply cloud capabilities (IoT, Cognitive Services, ML, AI) to solve business problems.
Register now to attend “Leveraging Azure Cloud: An Essential Step in Your Digital Transformation.”