[B-SIDE Podcast] Moving to the cloud, towards sustainability and resiliency
(This B-Side episode is sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services Philippines.)
The pandemic has pushed businesses into investing in cloud software and services as evidenced by a study released early this year by Alibaba Cloud, which found that 74% of local businesses see hybrid cloud solutions as key to their disaster recovery and business continuity efforts.
In this B-Side episode, Shiju Varghese, president and country head of Tata Consultancy Services Philippines, explains what separates a successful cloud migration from a failed one.
“There’s a common mistake that enterprises make: that is wanting to take the journey with their existing skillset and existing team that are not possibly ready or experienced enough to make them successful,” Mr. Varghese tells Adrian Paul B. Conoza, BusinessWorld special features assistant editor.
Arnel “Bon” de Vera, chief information officer at Sky Cable Corporation, also shares how the provider grew its business by shifting to the cloud.
TAKEAWAYS
Cloud migration takes preparation and collaboration.
Mr. Varghese advised businesses to look into their organizational change management framework and determine how functions, departments, and stakeholders will operate in the new environment that the cloud will bring.
Looking for partners equipped with the necessary experience, skillset, and tools in cloud migration will also ease the transition, he added.
According to Mr. De Vera, Sky chose TCS based on its breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in digital transformation.
Cloud’s benefits outweigh its cost.
Cloud migration requires investment, but companies will end up paying a higher price if they continue using outdated systems. These include a sluggish response to changing market conditions; the slow pace of innovation; the existence of inflexibility in systems and applications; and the unpredictability of cost in running operations.
“When you look at the benefits you get by getting rid of these old cost factors, the benefits of spending on migration really outweigh the costs you are incurring,” Mr. Varghese said.
Migration can start small.
“We do recommend our customers to take a phased approach instead of a ‘big bang.’ Organizations can move portions of an organization to the cloud, based on the landscape of the enterprise,” Mr. Varghese said.
What portions to migrate, however, will depend on business priorities.
“In some cases, there are organizations who first take their finance [departments] completely to the cloud,” Mr. Varghese said. “There are [some] who take their customer life cycle/customer experience onto the cloud first.”
Recorded remotely on Oct. 14, 2021. Produced by Paolo L. Lopez and Sam L. Marcelo.
