Cloud and digital transformation are closely linked. The early adopters of cloud will get a leg up on the competition in terms of digital experience for their customers and employees. On the other hand, enterprises that still haven’t implemented cloud technologies will be impeded in their digital transformation journey because of issues with legacy systems, slower change adaptability, longer speed to market and an inability to adapt to fast-changing customer expectations. Per the State of Digital Transformation, 2018 by Forbes, public/private cloud is among the top five technologies implemented by enterprises for Digital transformation2. Business and technology leaders see cloud as a key element of their digital transformation journey.

The role of cloud in digital transformation:
Cloud has an important role to play in all of these phases and the decisions that need to be taken for successful digital transformation. Cloud technologies provide the speed and tools for data and analysis for a review of market and business during the discovery phase. It also captures fast-changing needs and uses analytics to predict future trends.

Cloud provides the agility and environment for testing future models and hypotheses in the design phase. Additionally, it provides an ecosystem of relatively cost-effective and plentiful resources from technologies to platforms to vendors. It increases the interoperability between different resources, which in turn provides more options to digital transformation leaders during the design phase. Cloud technologies can be used to continuously re-caliber the transformation strategy based on frequent feedback and ability to adapt and deliver changes faster.

Similarly, cloud plays a central role in the delivery and execution of digital transformation strategy. Cloud technologies mean faster speed to market, agility, ability to scale up and down with varying demands, and faster adaptation to customer and market demands. Finally, cloud helps digital transformation leaders de-risk investments as opex instead of capex, faster uncoupling of resources if required, as well as the ability to make quick changes.