CIO Straight Talk - Issue 11 - 7

C

IOs first began exploring what we
now call the cloud nearly 20 years ago for
tactical reasons - it was a way to transfer
responsibility for maintenance and updating
systems, to change the cost structure of
IT investments, to potentially increase
availability or reliability. Over the years, IT
organizations have moved more and more
of their IT resources to the cloud - in many
cases, for those same basic reasons.
Recently, however, a significant shift has
occurred. IT leaders continue to transfer more
systems and applications to the cloud - and
over the next two years, those efforts will
continue to gain momentum. By 2020, 95%
of all organizations will be using cloud for
application delivery, 83% for infrastructure,
and 73% for platforms, according to IDG's
2018 Cloud Computing Study. By that time,
67 percent of IT infrastructure and software
will be based in the cloud, according to IDC.
Certainly, some organizations have found
cloud computing services to be faster,
cheaper, or more reliable than their in-house
options. But the core rationale for enterprise
cloud computing adoption has evolved. Cloud
services have become a requirement for
future digital transformation.
"In its first decade, cloud computing was
disruptive to IT, but looking into the second
decade, it is becoming mature and an
expected part of most disruptions," notes the
Gartner e-book Cloud Strategy Leadership.
"For the past 10 years, cloud computing
changed the expectations and capabilities of
the IT department, but now it is a necessary
catalyst for innovation across the company."
CIOs are no longer just looking to lift and
shift what they're already doing to the cloud.

They are utilizing the cloud to help them keep
up with the incredible pace of technology
change and leverage emerging capabilities
like artificial intelligence and machine
learning, big data and analytics, the Internet
of Things (IoT), blockchain, and augmented
or virtual reality. A funny thing happened
on the way to the cloud - it became the key
enabler for some of the biggest technologyenabled transformations businesses will make
going forward and is emerging as a lynchpin
for companies looking for opportunities to
elevate the customer experience, launch
new products and services, explore new
markets, or otherwise uncover new sources of
competitive advantage.

"IF THERE IS A DESIRE TO USE
BLEEDING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES
IN AN EASY, LOW-COST WAY,
THE CLOUD IS GOING TO BE THE
ONLY OPTION."
MICHAEL CANTOR
CIO
PARK PLACE TECHNOLOGIES

"Cloud providers will rapidly become the
first proving ground for new technologies,"
says Michael Cantor, CIO of Park
Place Technologies, which provides IT
infrastructure maintenance for more than
300,000 assets in over 115 countries around
the world. "Innovation in capability will often
become available first there because of the
ease of distribution and mass of customers
who are on those platforms. If there is a
desire to use bleeding-edge technologies in
an easy, low-cost way, the cloud is going to
be the only option."
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 11

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CIO Straight Talk - Issue 11
