If businesses want to realize all the different benefits that cloud technology brings, they need to go all-in, a new report from digital services and consultancy firm Infosys suggests.
The report asserts that cloud offers faster development of new solutions, the ability to more easily add functions to existing software, as well as the expansion of processing capacity. Furthermore, cloud fosters collaboration, unlocks value from data via artificial intelligence (AI) and creates new revenue sources.
However, in order to realize cloud-powered profit boosts, businesses need to have at least 60 percent of their systems in the cloud, Infosys found. AI benefits raise the bar even further, demanding businesses have at least 80 percent of their business functions (for example, cross-domain business applications) in the cloud.
When it comes to realized benefits and cloud adoption, Infosys says there are four groups of businesses: exceptional performers, highly effective performers, effective performers and minimally effective performers.
These organizations are distinguished by the extent of their cloud adoption and the motivations underpinning their use of cloud technology. The most successful firms are said to be those that use a larger mix of cloud service providers and more frequently employ hybrid cloud arrangements, while the least effective are less likely to use public cloud and have the least certainty in estimating cloud spend.
Should businesses across the six surveyed regions become more effective in cloud adoption, they’re looking at an additional $414 billion in net new profits each year, Infosys concluded.