How cloud computing and business agility walk hand in hand?

The most successful attribute for a gymnast, other than flexibility is the agility which actually enables him to change directions (controlled) with floor routines, as a single slip up could cost him the competition. A gymnast cannot afford to lose time in transition, so does a business.

Just like gymnasts, businesses too need the ability to react at a faster pace, alertness that characterizes agile athletes and smart anticipation of the moves likely to be made by the rivals.

Thus, a successful business also has a key corporate attribute that pushes its pedals to the metal – the business agility, the new buzz.

How agility benefits businesses?

In the context of business, agility is the ability which enables an organization to adapt and respond to rapidly changing business environments, in cost efficient and productive ways and react to market opportunities to market products faster.

As per McKinsey & Company, the business agility benefits are-

• Faster revenue growth

• Greater and more lasting cost reduction

• Management of risks and reputational threats.

Cloud and business agility-Rebalancing your business equation

How cloud delivers business agility?

According to the corporate decision makers surveyed by Absolute Data, cloud can make the entire organization more “business agile” and “responsive.”

The real value of cloud lies in the operational changes that it enables in the business environment. Let’s find out how cloud boosts business through business agility. It –

1. Delivers Competitive advantage – A managed cloud solution takes away the burden of running and maintaining infrastructure and facilitates faster access to compute capacity. Cloud enables business agility by giving:

   • Market Readiness-It enables a business to respond to the market changes more quickly and effectively, which in turn, fastens the process of launching new products and services in areas like predictive analytics and customer relationship management; and projects requiring speedy delivery, thus improving revenue growth and up-sell opportunities. This gives the business a lead over its competitors.

   • On the go access to data and resources– Cloud is like a central repository of data that allows accessibility to data and resources, anytime and anywhere, irrespective of any device. This trait eases collaboration and communication not only among team members but also with trading partners, globally.

   Pier 1 Imports Inc., the Fort Worth, Texas–based retail company, enlisted the cloud to deliver a competitive advantage and an engaging shopping experience for customers. With Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Solutions, it became easy for them to quickly upload data, ask questions and get the insights to data operations, without hiring teams of data scientists or buying high budget hardware.

2. Reduces business complexity– Business agility is enabled by the cloud by reducing complexities in a company’s IT operations by simplifying their management and thus, reducing costs.

   It fosters better delivery of internal resources that increases employee productivity and improves responsiveness to the customers. Cloud enables new and different ways of working, connecting and collaborating at a faster pace and also improves ability to access, share, analyze, and take apt action on data.

   API accessibility of cloud platforms enables automation in IT management and easier provisioning in the cloud environment. Systems become more adaptive with tools like integrated business intelligence and various other IT monitoring tools. Cloud computing reduces time spent on managing and supporting infrastructure via automation, web consoles and APIs.

   

3. Accelerates rate of innovation – “The biggest impact of the cloud is the ability to accelerate the rate of innovation for the business,” says Frank Gens, senior vice president and chief analyst at IDC.

   He says “When we get software through the cloud, we get updates and new features at three to six times the rate that we had with traditional software.” Cloud platform accelerates innovation by allowing companies to support product development and marketing programs at an increase pace, aligned with the goals of business.

Cloud business agility relationship also delivers ability to scale up and down as per business needs. The benefits of cloud are multiple and when combined with business agility adds more value. 🙂

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