INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud
Despite these clear signs, cloud migration of key business
applications is still met with reservations and, often,
resistance. IT leaders list concerns such as possible
downtime, security, potential loss of control over key
business processes, and cost.
Managing increasing complexity
As technologies like artificial intelligence, predictive analytics,
AR, VR, and the Internet of Things become mainstream,
enterprise IT systems and the digital processes they drive are
getting more complex every day. Companies need to find
new ways to reduce complexity while ensuring that their IT
systems are flexible enough to adapt to the requirements of a
shifting technology and business landscape.
Many organisations choose to migrate some or all of
their mission critical applications to the cloud to increase
flexibility. To do this efficiently, it is critical to understand
some of the key success factors for a cloud model. The high
ground in any mission-critical application cloud solution
comes down to four promises:
1. A comprehensive, end-to-end SLA approach that avoids
unproductive time-wasting by disparate service providers.
2. Integration across your application landscape.
3. Access to industry and engineering experts and best
practices to support ad hoc and ongoing needs.
4. Ability to leverage new skills and resources across
infrastructure, technical management and cross-vendor
application management.
SAP’s cloud offerings provide companies with the global
expertise and local knowledge needed to free up internal
resources and shift focus away from IT management – i.e.
ensuring systems are up and running – to innovation, the
“Companies need to find new
ways to reduce complexity
while ensuring that their IT
systems are flexible enough
to adapt to the requirements
of a shifting technology and
business landscape.”
driving force of all successful businesses in today’s digital
economy. The benefits of this are clear:
The cost benefit of cloud
Running business applications in the cloud means less
maintenance, especially in comparison to on-premise solutions,
as many subscription models include company-specific
maintenance and support in addition to hosting. Investments
to replace outdated hardware are also no longer necessary,
as these are already included in the monthly fees and service
agreements. Using managed cloud services allows companies
to scale the scope of applications they pay for to what they
really need. While existing on-premise solutions might have
numerous functionalities that companies pay for (although
they are often unnecessary), companies in the cloud only pay
for what they really need and for what they use. When business
requirements change, companies can flexibly adapt their
services and applications in the cloud as required.
Unlocking business value
By partnering with a leading cloud provider such as SAP,
companies can accelerate business processes that were
previously limited by the performance of their on-premise
systems. In addition, they can swiftly replace outdated
applications with new ones and make sure that different
company locations with previously diverging software releases
are all upgraded at the same time, reducing the overall
complexity of their IT landscape.
Support is similarly simplified: by moving insulated business
applications to the cloud, companies can work with a
single provider that assumes total responsibility. With a
comprehensive, managed cloud offering such as the SAP
HANA Enterprise Cloud, organisations can further optimise
their IT landscape to future-proof their business. This allows
them to focus on the functional and business layer of their
stack – driving innovation, business value, and growth – while
handing off the technical aspects of system and application
management to a reputable cloud partner such as SAP.
Cameron Beveridge, Director: Cloud, SAP Africa
50
INTELLIGENTCIO
With 125 million cloud subscribers and 44 state of the art
data centres in 27 locations around the world, isn’t it time you
spoke to SAP about how the cloud can fit into your company’s
digital transformation journey? n
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