A survey conducted by Accenture in late 2020 with over 4 C-level executives from various fields across 25 countries and 16 sectors, highlights that most companies still have a very limited view of the cloud and its strategic capabilities, leading many to consider the cloud as something static, thus reducing its potential to a cheaper and more efficient data center.

As mentioned in the study, within 5 years a significant portion of the organizations surveyed plan to migrate approximately two-thirds of their workloads to the cloud. However, only half of these companies are utilizing the full potential of the cloud to transform their businesses, perform more complex tasks, and modernize their applications.

Of the total respondents, less than 15% claim to apply the experience gained from using public data networks for data centers to improve organizational processes. This small number of companies gained a competitive edge in the market by recognizing the full potential of the cloud and thus achieving a competitive advantage through their high cloud engagement.

The combination of public and private cloud is common in most companies mapped in the study; however, with a low level of integration.

There is a small group of companies that, bucking the market trend, are strategically exploring the full potential of the cloud with all its applications and benefits.

Today's consumer is becoming increasingly demanding regarding their shopping experience. This puts market pressure on companies to offer their customers ever higher quality services. A select group of entrepreneurs, leaders, and CIOs have recognized this market trend and have begun to fully exploit the cloud, using it as an extension of technologies that span different locations and property types, with dynamic support for 5G cloud computing and software-defined networking.

Choosing the right type of cloud for each business will be a competitive factor for companies, which will come to understand that their cloud efforts go beyond migration aimed at cost savings and efficiency; they offer double or triple the chances of innovating, automating, and reshaping their processes.

These companies that have adopted the cloud as a strategic decision, and not just as a cloud migration, are able to achieve cost reductions of up to 1,2 times in some cases.

Another point discussed was the sustainability goals achieved through the use of the cloud, given that companies that use the cloud strategically are three times more likely to reduce energy consumption by using more efficient servers that consume less energy.

Conclusion

Companies with a well-defined cloud strategy have a competitive advantage over the market, which in most cases still views cloud strategy solely for data migration and not for improving processes and services offered to its customers.

To successfully implement a comprehensive cloud strategy, companies need to take several important actions, such as:

To define a clear strategy for the company with a long-term vision, establishing core values and future aspirations, analyzing its competitive vulnerabilities and classifying its capabilities relative to the company's current scenario.
The goal is to implement cloud-based practices that support and enhance existing technologies within the organization. Additionally, the aim is to always seek out systems already developed in the cloud, thus gaining agility and improved integrations.