How has the cloud evolved to become so important for organisations?
Like everything else in life, reaching this status quo has not been immediate. Until it reached cruising speed, it went through several phases (the birth of the Internet with open protocols, mass adoption of ERP/CRM with server virtualisation, globalisation and the rise of IT offshoring/nearshoring, etc.). However, in recent decades, the global system has incorporated a data-based economic layer, with the pandemic acting as the turning point that accelerated this transition.
As this need and the economic layer have reached the main markets and corners of the globe, it has created the need for an infrastructure that can support what exists and what is to come with the rise of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, etc.
The role of new technologies in the cloud
New technologies have a scalability that allows them to ‘set no limits’ on the availability of resources. It is not just a matter of having a hammer, but of having ‘infinite’ toolboxes.
This makes it easier to implement and grow than it would be if it were done locally. And by this we mean both the reach that one can achieve through online markets or global platforms, and the simplicity of carrying it out and implementing it in another corner.
With just a couple of clicks and a subscription, we all have access to all kinds of audiovisual content platforms, we can play online with people on another continent or sell our product in another country with a different time zone. Scalability tends towards infinity and borders blur in the Cloud.
The role of AI
Having a lamp that is not connected to the mains just takes up space in our home. However, if we connect it, it lights up our space. The same is true of AI. Without data, it is an empty box. It needs to be ‘fed’ with data, and the more access it has to data, the more it can be trained and perfected.
Cloud computing offers an ocean of data, with an infrastructure that allows AI models to be used to their full potential. It means having a real Formula One car to train the models and a whole team of engineers from any racing team instead of just one mechanic.
The keys to a successful migration to the cloud
As I said at the beginning, the key is to have a technology-agnostic partner to accompany you on the journey so that you avoid turbulence and have a smooth landing. In this article, I was just talking about the concept of Landing Zones, areas that help our customers have a good landing.
Understanding the issues in the local environment (On-Premise) and the criticality of the data (health, national security, etc.) will help to map out the best route and see which technology (Telefónica with TTCP, Amazon with AWS or the other hyperscalers) is best suited to the business and has the least impact on it.
In turn, having experts and professionals who already have the know-how on how to make these transitions will help prevent anomalies or problems during the transition. In addition, we must consider the following in the cloud environment:
- What tools will I need? Perhaps those from Azure (Microsoft), knowing my local environment, are better suited than those offered by Google.
- Which “flavour” interests me most: sovereign cloud, hybrid cloud or pure public cloud.
- Where do I want to take my On-Premise plant? A cloud is hosted in a data centre, so if I have a data centre next to my business, I will have less latency than one on the other side of the world. Here, a geopolitical component is also added to the equation, to know where the data is residing and what regulatory compliance guarantees remain in place depending on where it is hosted.
