How Cloud Technology is Making a Difference

By Steve Cox, VP of ERP & EPM GTM, Oracle

Steve Cox, VP of ERP & EPM GTM, Oracle

Please share a brief overview about the Cloud market And what are the trends shaping up and where are these leading to:

Cloud changes everything we know about business and IT, transforming how organizations run and how people work. Today we are seeing everyone from Fortune 100 companies to small and medium size businesses modernize their organizations by making the move to the cloud. This makes it easier for businesses to innovate and drive growth and can also reduce spend and inefficiencies – meeting these modern objectives simultaneously to fuel competitive advantages.

There has been an increase in the adoption of Cloud Technology in the market today. People are talking about this shift from many other technologies. Do you see this as a gradual change that will continue to evolve:

Yes. Considering that less than ten percent of today’s business computing workloads have moved to the cloud, the shift of legacy on premise solutions to the cloud will continue to grow. While some organizations will adopt a cloud-first approach, the market is still mostly comprised of companies that have either on premiseor hybrid technology models. To start their journey, many companies modernize one business function at a time rather than bringing all business functions to the cloud at once. Therefore, I believe in the next few years, we will see continued growth in the hybrid cloud market as companies realize the need to glean meaningful insights from their volumes of data is essential to stay competitive.

" We’re firmly of the belief that, far from being a threat, this new era is one of tremendous opportunity "

If people are moving toward Cloud, what challenges would be in store for them to deal with:

Whenever new processes and technologies are adopted, modern best practice change management is necessary to help employees transition the way they work. It is also important to demonstrate how and why the cloud applications are better versus the company’s traditional business processes and technology. To do this, outline a clear roadmap for the path to the cloud. Examine your existing business processes, policies, operating procedures and approaches and optimize them.

Needs and Technologies go hand-in-hand, and they have always been as a great a push in providing organizations a devil’s haven to assess, innovate and execute. Please enlighten us with the way you see it, and provide your perspective:

Business needs have driven, and will continue to drive, cloud adoption. Mobile first philosophies, intelligence driven by analytics, the Internet of Things, social networking and big data have created a new reality and businesses must adapt or face losing a competitive edge. Today more companies realize that the benefits of moving their business processes to the cloud outweigh the cost of transitioning their existing technology investments. The impact on your business can actually be positive – helping to generate an increase in top line revenue, better productivity, lowered costs and improved compliance. When employees can focus on higher value activities, it frees them up to innovate to the benefit of your business.

Should companies be implementing a Cloud solution alongside with other technologies:

When transitioning to the cloud, companies should ensure their cloud solution can support their technology ecosystem. Not only should it unify your systems and processes, but it should also support your unique security needs and adhere to industry and/or country specific regulations. It is important that a cloud vendor can customize a technology combination (public, private, hybrid) that is optimal for your individual company. Benefits of the cloud include quick implementation, regular updates with the latest innovations, and seamless integration with other cloud applications and systems – whether from a single vendor or with cloud extension offerings.

What is your advice for other executives who share the same enthusiasm like you, of tracking newer trends, challenges; specifically in the Cloud suite in the coming years:

At the risk of being partial, try our Modern Finance Leader blog– it’s always packed full of articles from our customers, thought leaders, and Oracle experts. I read voraciously and having an iPad has made that so much easier. I try to spend the second 30 minutes of my day (after reading email) catching up on what’s happening. As well as all the normal news sources and the online versions of the Financial Times & the Wall Street Journal, I also like to review the latest thinking by browsing Wired, Fast Company, Inc. and Forbes. I’d also recommend Medium as a source of the newest ideas on business, finance and culture.

Any other insights you would like to discuss that would help our readers be on the peak of the prevalent happenings in the technology space:

We’re fortunate to be on the cusp of a new era of innovation spurred by the technologies we’ve mentioned earlier and the 5 catalysts of digital transformation:

1. The global talent shortage
2. The rise of the robots
3. The accelerating disappearance of jobs
4. Exponentially increasing customer expectations
5. Volatile business models

We’re firmly of the belief that, far from being a threat, this new era is one of tremendous opportunity and promise for the general population, our planet and most organizations – regardless of sector, size or industry.