Accenture Releases Research on Difficulty of Transitioning to Cloud

A primary goal of cloud computing is to reduce the cost of computing resources, while increasing system flexibility and scaling. Should a company need short-term server access, cloud computing offers a means to acquire it without signing a long-term agreement, and users can power it off when they’re done and pay only for usage. This is the perfect model of cloud computing; however, for many companies the road to the cloud can be a rocky one.

Those companies with consistent and ongoing requirements can still avoid investment in expensive servers, or the need to hire multiple systems administrators to keep their IT efforts running, but the transition comes at a cost. Now, Accenture (News - Alert), a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, has released a report on the situation.  

The research, has been summarized in a new report, “Where the Cloud Meets Reality: Scaling to Succeed in New Business Models.” It includes interviews with more than 40 senior executives from 30 companies  The research revealed that many senior leaders lack a clear understanding of how the complexity of these new business models impacts operations in nearly every function of their companies.

The creation of geographical redundancy through a replica environment can be complicated for any company and costly. Cloud computing automatically disperses hardware in multiple locations and often on international servers, so there is never a question of redundancy if one breaks down. If a server becomes overloaded, the clustering technology used in most cloud computing environments permits online migration, however having the sophistication and training to transition to these environments can be lacking.

Acccording to Mitch Cline, global managing director with Accenture’s Electronics & High-Tech group, “Growing cloud-based business models is highly strategic and an immense undertaking for high-tech companies. Companies face enormous operational chal­lenges in determining how to support these new models and deliver the world-class experience demanded by enterprise customers, in particular. Companies aren’t prepared today strategically or operationally to cope with the magnitude of disruption they’re facing.”

Cline goes on to say high-tech companies need a coherent blueprint to make a successful shift to a services-centric business and to compete more nimbly with new cloud competitors. Chief op­er­­ating officers in particular need to take more responsibility for forward-looking strategic planning and to develop sharply different capabilities and skills.