The Enabler Of Business Continuity – Companies Warned Not To Be Left Behind As Pandemic Accelerates Take-Up Of The Cloud

February 27 03:57 2021

Businesses yet to advance their digital business plans to take advantage of the cloud need to do so as a priority or risk being left behind as the extent to which the pandemic has accelerated take-up of the cloud to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity becomes apparent. 

That’s the message from Seattle-based tech marketing and strategy specialists Audienz following a recent forecast by Gartner that worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is likely to grow 18.4% this year to total $304.9 billion, up from $257.5 billion in 2020. It also follows Microsoft’s recent announcement that its own commercial cloud revenue had reached $16.7 billion, up 34% year on year2.

Fernando Mendez, CEO at Audienz, says that, without the cloud, the impact of the pandemic on many businesses could have been far more severe. 

“A lot of businesses have accelerated their adoption of cloud services, in part to keep businesses running with a remote workforce. The cloud has been a true enabler of business continuity, supporting everyone in their quest to be productive during the pandemic.”

For example, productivity software or CRM systems hosted in the cloud are always on and available from anywhere. This acceleration to the cloud, continues Mendez, is not something confined to the biggest organisations. 

“The cloud makes large scale applications and IT services available to any size organisation, and the cloud providers we work with market and sell services to everyone from start-ups to the world’s largest companies,” he says,

One further development being seeing on the back of this is how cloud purchasing models are now moving ahead of conventional IT and software buying models.

“The cloud is changing how companies buy their software and IT services. Companies are more commonly buying IT services on subscription and “pay-as-you-go” models rather than buying servers and software under licensing agreements. The cloud platform providers we work with are also increasingly enabling commerce via their online marketplaces, where cloud services vendors can market and sell their solutions to business customers.” 

Cloud pricing models for business customers are not dissimilar to the way consumers are embracing subscription-based streaming services like Netflix, which surpassed 200 million paid subscribers for the first time in Q4 of 2020, and Disney+, which achieved 87 million paid subscribers, in its first year.

Business continuity isn’t the only benefit companies are realising. The cloud helps accelerate innovation and removes traditional barriers allowing new, global competitors to emerge daily, each armed with alternative technologies and competitive messaging tactics. This poses a significant threat to established businesses, Mendez adds. 

“The pace of change enabled by the cloud means businesses need to maintain and sharpen their edge to outpace their competition. We are seeing an increased demand for quick-turn market insights to inform their competitive strategy. If you have a clear, up-to-date understanding of how your positioning stands up against your competitors’, your team will be well-prepared in every sales conversation, countering competitors’ claims, and confidently winning customers.”

1. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-11-17-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-grow-18-percent-in-2021#:~:text=Proportion%20of%20Enterprise%20IT%20Spending,%2C%20according%20to%20Gartner%2C%20Inc.

2. https://news.microsoft.com/2021/01/26/microsoft-cloud-strength-drives-second-quarter-results-2/

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