Robert Czarniewski, the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Polcom, provided an extensive statement on the future of business solutions, including ERP systems and other applications offered in cloud computing. We encourage you to read it.
Today, business applications belong to the group of critical systems in terms of maintaining the continuity of operations for all organizations. However, for them to function properly, they require a properly prepared IT environment.
Previously, companies and other entities in the market had to build their IT environment for business applications on their own or use existing – not always efficient – infrastructure. In the on-demand model, this is done on a service basis.
The evolution towards digital business means that IT or financial departments must go beyond simply cutting costs related to IT infrastructure or maintenance. Instead, they should focus on optimizing the business value of IT technology. What does this mean? It can be stated that effective cost optimization today should involve continuously seeking technologies that increase business value, allowing for faster product delivery to the market or greater flexibility in response to changing economic conditions.
According to research conducted by Polcom and Intel, as many as 91 percent of all respondents indicated that they utilize the capabilities of cloud computing to support existing business processes. Moreover, 67 percent of respondents participating in the study pointed out that cloud computing is a way to expand IT resources without the need to invest in their own hardware, software, or infrastructure storage space.
Ability to focus on core business activities
In the context of business applications, the cloud appears to be the future for both large enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Although the migration of various systems to the cloud requires significant preparations, it is a process that brings tangible benefits.
The most important advantage is the company’s ability to concentrate on its core business activities and access new, innovative technologies, including advanced management tools such as SAP or IFS Applications, without the need to invest in its own IT infrastructure.
The Polcom and Intel report also clearly indicates that ensuring security and maintaining operational continuity (94% of respondents) is an extremely urgent investment in the digital transformation of a company – without efficiently functioning IT and critical applications, conducting business effectively is not possible today.
Furthermore, services or solutions available in the cloud provide instant scalability, allowing for the handling of a large number of requests or a greater number of users than anticipated, without the need to purchase additional IT hardware. On the other hand, by changing the financing model from CAPEX to OPEX, companies that have already decided to transition to the cloud model can optimize their expenses.
Other expected benefits
Many decision-makers also see a pragmatic dimension in investing in digital technologies. They are intended to help companies automate repetitive tasks (85%) and process data more efficiently (84%). Increasing the utilization of cloud computing (52% of responses) or leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies (38%) is not an end in itself but merely a way to improve business efficiency.
The benefits of investing in information technologies can also be observed in other areas of business operations. Digitization brings noticeable effects in terms of data management and providing business information to aid decision-making (68% of responses), managing existing resources (52%), or activities related to customer service (50%).