Cloud proves its value in the ‘new normal’

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a massive shift in the role of technology and revealed the real power of cloud computing, not only in driving the success of businesses but in ensuring their underlying ability to operate effectively in an unpredictable market.

Customer demand for cloud-based services has accelerated, with spending in Q1 2020 alone reaching $US29 billion, up 37 per cent over the same time last year, according to Synergy Research Group.

This trend is likely to persist, according to PwC, as the exodus to virtual work underscores the urgency for scalable, secure, reliable and costeffective off-premises technology services.

Organisations that responded rapidly to the COVID outbreak and adopted a cloud-centric ‘‘new normal’’ are now best placed to accelerate into the new world. With a strong cloud foundation in place, they could move quickly to focus on adapting to the new reality of operating under extreme circumstances.

‘‘As organisations have fast-tracked their cloud ambitions, they have started to appreciate that cloud migrations do not require a multi-year timetable in order to drive digital transformation and deliver business value,’’ says Brad Anderson, vice-president and managing director of VMware Australia and New Zealand.

One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to enterprise digitisation and migrating to the cloud is that it needs to be a long and drawnout process, Anderson asserts. ‘‘In the current climate, businesses don’t have the option to spend 12 months or more delivering a digital solution,’’ he says.

‘‘VMware has undertaken a large amount of advisory work to help customers focus on the right digital portfolio to enable them to navigate quickly to the cloud and keep up with the pace of change in the market.’’

Pre-pandemic, digital transformation strategies were often mapped out over months or years, but now VMware is moving customers to the cloud in days. Indeed, rapid acceleration to the cloud is a trend across the board because of the cloud’s flexibility and scalability, as well as it being a platform for innovation and growth.

‘‘One of our customers is a national online service which has more than 500 people based in physical call centres in different parts of the country,’’ Anderson says. ‘‘We moved those employees to work from home, practically overnight, thanks to the agility of cloud technology.’’

At the beginning of the pandemic, VMware also assisted a major Australian healthcare provider with moving all of their non-frontline employees to work from home.

Those employees still required access to medical records and other services to continue to provide diagnostic, imaging and pathology services to healthcare professionals. The customer worked with VMware to move more than 2000 employees to remote working within 48 hours.

‘‘We have helped many customers work their way through their initial response to COVID-19 and enable a remote workforce,’’ says Anderson. ‘‘After this reactive stage, we supported them to adapt their technology strategies to deliver longer term business resilience.’’

Building on two decades of digitising businesses, VMware’s partnerships with major public cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft and Google provide customers with the choice to build the cloud solution that best suits their applications, says Mike Reddie, senior director cloud, VMware Australia and New Zealand.

Most often, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud strategies are the optimal way to meet customers’ needs, particularly when factoring in the realities of today’s market. A hybrid or multi-cloud approach gives businesses the flexibility to run their technology in the particular cloud which is best suited to the application. Key drivers in that decision are operating cost, risk and resilience, time to deliver and access to innovation.

Many businesses began their transformation journey with the goal of optimising IT, moving from capital expenditure to operating expenses spend, and gaining the ability to scale up and down as needed. Today, customers are focused beyond this, with more emphasis on gaining competitive advantage through innovation.

Emerging technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) are enabling innovation like never before and cloud platforms are central to these outcomes, Reddie says.

‘‘We’ve been working with several government organisations to deliver on their cloud strategies, so they can provide timely and accurate information to citizens during these times when we expect everything to be available digitally. A strong technology foundation means these agencies can provide citizens with the information they need, when they need it.

‘‘Everything we do is based in software with security intrinsically built in, so we can deliver rapid outcomes for customers across a broad range of challenges. One of the strongest propositions VMware has is how quickly we can move customers to the new world to adapt their businesses, then help them accelerate.’’