IT market research agency IHS recently said the cloud will embrace more than just online storage. It will enable the market for the Internet of Things. Some of the IT vendors shared CIO tips for cloud deployments in enterprises.
Enterprise CIOs need to first take a look at which applications they presently have on-premise and whether they will be able to co-exist with their cloud applications. Having a flexible infrastructure that can support both on–premise and cloud apps should be top priority, said Oracle India.
CIO tips for cloud deployments
CIOs need to have clarity on the reasons for migrating to the cloud, if such a decision is made and evaluate the service provider’s capabilities as the subject matter expert and also the authority in all decisions pertaining to IT. A cloud pilot project is a good way for an organization to evaluate cloud services to see how useful, reliable and cost-efficient they can be. A pilot project should be a non-critical application that has a limited scope, a short time frame and loosely defined estimates of its ROI.
When it comes to Cloud computing, security and compliance are key priorities in evaluating cloud vendors. Any organization is accountable to regulators, business partners, customers, and employees. Thus, a cloud computing vendor should have a comprehensive and technically sound approach to a defense in depth security program. CIOs should make an effort to map their needs for security controls (such as accountability, privacy, confidentiality, integrity, and availability) to the vendor’s capabilities
If applications are to be migrated to the cloud, CIOS need to understand the applications they want to move to the cloud or keep on-premise. If a CIO wants to evaluate the feasibility, it is best to start by moving non-critical applications to the cloud to get a sense of the cloud environment or even understand the integration level that the application has with other applications which may not be on the cloud as it could hamper day-to-day operations.
One of the key benefits of cloud computing is flexibility. Therefore, it is important to configure the cloud as per the requirements of the organization. Because creating this capability is typically a focus of engineering, CIOs should look to make the system specific to their company through configuration rather than customization.
Challenges
The biggest opportunities in the Cloud space are social and mobile. Mobile, social, and cloud delivery are redefining how business gets done. “The cloud environment offers enormous advantages that vary from lower costs to massive scalability. The proliferation of social and mobile are redefining consumption of technology. These trends are being reshaping every kind of industry and every type of business,” said Hirak Kayal, vice president, Applications Outbound Product Management, Oracle India.
Taken together, these forces make cloud computing a powerful alternative for businesses scrambling to keep up with an information explosion, a stunningly fast move to mobile commerce and lifestyle, and the parallel rise of social as one of the most powerful shapers of corporate image and success today, said Oracle.
As sensitive data moves beyond an organization’s firewall, cloud can also offer some daunting security risks. In fact, managing security risk becomes even more critical when organizations outsource business-critical applications to the public cloud. This does not imply that cloud solutions make your business or enterprise unsafe.
Accenture’s Cloud alliance
Recently, Accenture and Orange Business Services announced their Cloud alliance to tap enterprises in the European market. The alliance will support large enterprises to define their cloud strategy and the transformation of their infrastructure and applications to cloud-based models.
Jagdish Rebello, senior director for information technology at IHS., said that both enterprises and original equipment manufacturers of mobile devices will grapple with challenges in cloud performance, differentiation of services, new business models and the evolution of multiple cloud ecosystems.
More than 78 percent of disk storage will use cloud connections to digital content by 2017, making the need for less expensive cloud storage of paramount concern.
T-Systems and StoneOne now offer a compliance solution from the German cloud. The GRC Cockpit (Governance, Risk & Compliance) was specially developed for the cloud. Companies of differing sizes can buy the solution from the cloud for a flat rate – it is highly scalable and multi-client capable, while keeping companies’ sensitive compliance data protected under strict German data privacy rules.
Frank Strecker, manager responsible for cloud business at T-Systems, said: “StoneOne offers a compliance solution that we can now combine with our highly secure cloud services, subject to the standards of German data privacy rules.”
Lenovo is utilizing SAS Analytics on the public cloud infrastructure of Amazon Web Services (AWS). The computer manufacturer is combining insights from its own data with unstructured data, such as social media, product reviews, customer forums, call center logs and online chat sessions.
How Oracle improved productivity of enterprises
Oracle has helped more than 10,000 customers move to cloud computing, and now supports 25 million cloud users around the world. Since the decisions are in the hands of the organization to deploy cloud, industries like telecom; manufacturing, BFSI, retail, education, healthcare and government are increasingly developing/turning to the cloud to simplify IT.
Increased adoption of this technology is also being driven by the proliferation of social media – cloud applications, like what Oracle offers, can provide organizations with a range of unique social networking-related features, including the ability for employees to collaborate with one another and reach out to customers on public social sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, to personalize end-user engagements and boost business opportunities.
BookMyShow has deployed Oracle Service Cloud (RightNow) to improve customer experience and provided comprehensive ticketing, information, and analysis solutions to cinemas, event organizers, and individual consumers nationwide.
After the deployment, BookMyShow now has a consolidated view of customer information and gained the ability to provide better service and improve customer experience. Customer care response time to e-mail and phone queries about ticketing was accelerated by 30 percent and customer base was expanded by delivering targeted, personalized interactions with new and existing customers to support return business.
“We chose Oracle RightNow Cloud Service as our contact center database as it was perfectly tailored to meet the needs of our growing entertainment ticketing business. We accelerated our response time to customer inquiries by 30 percent, improved overall customer service, and expanded our customer base,” KomalChainani, assistant general manager of Contact Center and Back Office Operations, Bigtree Entertainment.
MakeMyTrip, an online travel company, has deployed Oracle Service Cloud, combining previously disparate channels — Web, chat, social, email and voice transactions — into a unified, cross-channel 360 view in the cloud.
RajnishKapur, chief innovation and customer experience officer, MakeMyTrip, said: “Oracle Service Cloud helped us integrate all the disparate channels of communication and information so we can serve our customers better.”
Since the implementation of Oracle Service Cloud, MakeMyTrip has reduced both agent training and reduced calls to their call center by 50 percent, and the company’s Net Promoter Score, a measure of customer loyalty, has increased by double digits.
Rajani Baburajan
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