Does your organisation have a multi-cloud strategy?

Multi-cloud has become the norm for many Australian businesses, with Oracle reporting in February 2023 that 93% of Australian enterprises used multiple cloud environments. Many organisations use a multi-cloud strategy to back up data and reduce downtime. In this blog, I’ll focus on a slightly different angle: adopting a multi-cloud strategy to avoid vendor lock-in and use best-of-breed solutions. 

Adopting a multi-cloud strategy enables your company to build a composable infrastructure by using the best features of different cloud providers. A composable enterprise uses modular components to build its tech stack, rather than use a few monolithic applications. It’s an approach that, when done properly, fosters flexible operations and optimises costs.

Cloud adoption has steadily risen in recent years, with many of us experiencing first-hand the flexibility and agility required to accommodate hybrid workforces and changing business needs. Australian enterprises continue investing in cloud computing. A Gartner survey reveals that 62% of Australian CIOs plan to boost their cloud spending this year, with goals to improve operational costs and efficiencies. What are the trends influencing cloud adoption?

Do you know how much data your organisation accumulates every day?

Australian businesses accumulate significant amounts of data across sales, marketing, customer service, social media and finances. According to BCG, the volume of data generated by organisations globally doubled between 2018 and 2021. For too many companies, this data remains stuck in siloed systems and unused for decision-making.

How many platforms does your marketing team use daily? From instant messaging to task management, the average business process runs across five or more systems. While adding more platforms over the last decade has undoubtedly brought more granular functionality to businesses (such as financial reporting, e-commerce, and CRM), if these platforms do not communicate, they can become major productivity blockers.

Perhaps your marketing team uses Wrike to plan projects and assign tasks, but do they use a different platform to report on progress? Do they have to access the content relevant to these tasks on a different platform?

If your answer to both of these questions is ‘Yes’, your business might greatly benefit from workflow integration (a.k.a. systems integration) to bring together all these platforms and processes. What are the benefits of such a solution?

When it comes to reducing business costs, many people think of it as a cost-cutting exercise. While this approach has validity, it does not always yield the best results; making the wrong cuts could seriously damage your operations and the customer experience. Instead, I encourage you to think about cost reduction as an opportunity to optimise costs. Consider how you can get more from what you already have and find areas to optimise operations to reduce unnecessary costs.

Data integration provides numerous opportunities to reduce expenses across your business while enhancing your operations. It can maximise ROI, eliminate redundant data entry work and provide you with an opportunity to take advantage of cloud platforms.

Rather than grappling with multiple systems, you can reduce costs with a single source of truth for your data, ensuring that you work with accurate, up-to-date information. 

Manual data entry across siloed systems drags down efficiency and accuracy in your organisation. Mundanity and repetition breeds mistakes as staff become disengaged with their work. 

Traditional business models have relied on monthly, quarterly, or yearly planning to set strategic goals and define the next steps. Today, we live in a world where technology continues evolving, and customer expectations keep changing along with the market.

Gone are the days of five-year plans. The pace of disruption has reached an intensity such that any business model today could be unviable in five years.

An agile business plan is the key to success. You must be able to pivot quickly and make changes on the fly to stay ahead of the competition. One way to achieve this agility is through systems integration. Integrated systems bring together the data you need to make informed business decisions and find cut-through in the market.

Right now, technology companies worldwide churn out innovation at a rapid pace. Recent years have seen a sharp acceleration in the capabilities of Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Each new technology and solution promises a compelling, unique benefit.

You might be familiar with the psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s concept of ‘thinking fast versus thinking slow’.

Gaining control and visibility over workforce processes has become imperative for modern businesses.