Cloud chaos vs. Infrastructure choke

A report by Mckinsey found that enterprise adoption of the cloud lags behind expectations due to stalled, gridlocked, or stopped cloud programs falling foul to a fear of the cost and digital chaos transformation could bring. And while companies panic, their outdated infrastructures are choking. So are these fears justified, and can they overcome these fears before it’s too late?

What’s stopping companies moving to the cloud?

McKinsey’s report identifies “that large companies host 10 to 15 percent of their applications in the cloud,”[1] which is significantly below industry expectations.

Their findings indicate multiple factors for this, including:

• Cloud jammed in queues because IT cannot build the necessary architectures
• “Lift & Shift” cloud projects failing to reduce costs significantly
• Lack of leadership alignment leaves IT teams stranded without guidance on cloud objectives
• A belief that the “economics, skills, processes, and organizational changes required are too complex”[2]

This suggests there’s a belief that the cloud is no more beneficial than traditional data centers or solutions. But if that’s the case, why is the cloud growing?

The big cloud misconception

Interestingly, all the issues listed above are not issues with the cloud itself but with its concept and what they “think” it does.

On the one hand, there seems to be a belief that simply switching on the cloud is all it takes to solve issues. At the same time, other organizations seem to be almost trying to build their clouds from the ground up in the same way they did with their on-premise solutions. But a successful cloud solution probably lies somewhere in the middle.

These misconceptions may come from how the cloud has been positioned to these organizations as a cure for all ills—doing simply the same as on-premise, only cheaper or faster and somewhere else. But deep down, we all know that’s not true, and the fact is your:

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are complex. It is not an easy task for IT to address various business units’ requirements and effectively manage stakeholder expectations.[3]

Yes, moving these systems to the cloud will take work. Lift & Shift probably won’t save you a fortune overnight, but it will at least give you an environment where making change happen is easier and cheaper. While building from the ground up is thankfully unnecessary, unless you want to, which isn’t an option with on-premise. 

The case for the cloud

But let’s be honest. Simply being the same as on-premise only cheaper isn’t a strong selling point, and that’s because that’s not what the cloud offers (even though it will be cheaper in the long run). The excitement behind the cloud is that if you take advantage of its full capabilities, it’s a whole new way of working for everyone in your business, not just your IT teams.

A report by SoftwareReviews found that modern cloud ERPs, like ours at Unit4, deliver deep satisfaction drivers that on-premise users struggle with without expensive investment. These include:

• Usability and intuitiveness
• Quality of features
• Ease of customization
• Rates of improvement

And the cloud is a dynamic solution, constantly updated, developed, and improved at no expense to you. This stands in contrast to the rigid, static nature of on-premise solutions that take significant time and financial investment to transform.

Suddenly you can see how the cloud offers a flexible and scalable way of working that helps your business adapt instantly to the challenges of tomorrow.

How do you get to the cloud?

The key to making the cloud work for you is the right cloud partner. Unlike on-premise, the cloud is a relationship, and the right partners deliver cloud solutions tailored to your company as it grows.

Equally as important, these partners make switching to the cloud simpler so that you don’t fall into cloud chaos pitfalls mentioned above. Helping you integrate systems and data to create a single source of truth accessible anywhere by anyone.

In SoftwareReviews’ 2021 Data Quadrant [4], Unit4 ranked as a leader for product features, satisfaction, vendor experience, and capabilities. But just as exciting were the results we received 81% satisfaction for our vendor support offering during integration and implementation. In the survey, customers were:

• 81% satisfied (with 38% delighted) with Unit4’s ease of data integration
• 80% satisfied (with 45% delighted) with Unit4’s ease of data implementation

So customers don’t just get the cloud they need; they are getting there easier too. You can read the full report here to see how Unit4 stacked up against other providers and what else our customers had to say about our cloud ERP solution.

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/how-cios-and-ctos-can-accelerate-digital-transformations-through-cloud-platforms

[2] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/how-cios-and-ctos-can-accelerate-digital-transformations-through-cloud-platforms

[3] https://info.unit4.com/Global-PSO-2021-ERP-Impact-Report-Software-Reviews_LP.html

[4] https://info.unit4.com/Global-PSO-2021-ERP-Impact-Report-Software-Reviews_LP.html