How Cloud Computing is Drastically Changing the Life of a CIO
How Cloud Computing is Drastically Changing
the Life of a CIO
“The cloud
presents one of the biggest industry disruptions in years. And while you may be
sick of talking about it, CIOs need to get their heads in the cloud in order to
help their company safely and successfully navigate the journey,” says Bask
Iyer, CIO and Executive Vice President, VMware in a blog.
Bask is not
off the point. Cloud computing has taken the world by storm and figures are
testament to it. According to a research report by Bain & Company, the
cloud computing revenue is predicted to increase to $390 billion in the year 2020
from $180 billion. This translates into a CAGR of around 17%. Additionally, 48
out of the Fortune Global 50 companies are moving towards cloud adoption for various
IT applications.
Why is the Cloud Shift Happening?
Cloud
computing will continue to gain momentum as businesses shift from legacy systems
to cloud-based ones and as increasingly greater number of organizations keep
pushing for digital business strategies. And, it is not entirely without
reason. Cloud-based applications offer more connectivity and functionalities
than legacy systems. Moreover, enterprises get an opportunity to access technology
that is reasonably reliable and affordable as they compete with each other to
be increasingly cheaper, better, and faster.
What Does the Cloud Shift Mean For a
CIO?
For a long
time, the CIO has been mostly the purchaser of software and hardware; the
administrator of their maintenance, implementation, and security. They were
basically technical people who made everything work. But now with the advent of
cloud computing all that is set to change. As the reach of the internet
(including both 3G and 4G services) and levels of digitization rise
exponentially, the most immediate impact of a shift to the cloud will palpably
be on the CIOs. They are now forced to transform from merely a keeper of
technology into a real chief, managing data as an asset of their organizations,
much in the same fashion as a CFO manages the finances of a company.
From CAPEX to OPEX
When CIOs
made their entry in the early 1990s, they were enablers of technology and were the
main drivers of pushing an organization on the path to automation and
digitalization. No wonder, massive allocations of capital were needed to be
made in order to give companies an edge even as the technology changed swiftly.
Premise-based software and tools ensured that increasingly larger portions of
the organization’s budget was dedicated to it. However, all that changed
drastically with the advent of the cloud. Earlier, what was considered CAPEX transformed
overnight into OPEX. Cloud computing is making business responsiveness and agility
possible to a point where it is pushing the CIOs from a purely technical role
to a more business-oriented role.
How Can CIOs Adapt to the Changing
Technology and Times
CIOs of
today have to understand the functions they are supporting, so that they can rapidly
put up not only the applications and infrastructure needed to push new ideas into
the market but also to customize them before launching. This fundamental change
entails a new set of skills for the CIO. Although they will have to retain an immediate
understanding of IT architecture and infrastructure but that per se would not
be enough. The star CIO would additionally have to bring to the table an intuitive
understanding of marketing, finance, operations, HR and other functions.
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