Category Archives: Cloud Computing

Hold on to your hats, because thedigital banking industryis taking the world by storm! From its humble beginnings to its current state, digital banking has revolutionized the way we handle our finances. Thanks to smartphones, mobile banking has taken off, letting us complete transactions with ease, even when were on the go. But thats just the tip of the iceberg. Todays digital banking boasts a dizzying array of features that we could only dream of before. Biometric authentication, virtual assistants, and AI-powered chatbots that can give personalized financial advice are just a few of the awesome tools at our disposal. And thats not all it has given rise to a whole new breed of financial tech startups Fintechs, that are changing the game with their innovative approaches. With all these incredible advancements, digital banking is at the cutting edge of innovation, and its just getting started. In this blog post, well explore how AI and cloud technology are revolutionizing this sector, boosting security, innovation, and profitability. So fasten your seatbelt as we take you on an exciting journey into the future of finance!

Digital banking, also known as online banking, has revolutionized the way we handle our finances. The concept can be traced back to the early 1980s, when ATMs (automated teller machines) were introduced, allowing customers to withdraw cash without visiting a physical bank branch. However, the real revolution began in the late 1990s with the advent of internet banking. It allowed customers to manage their accounts and perform transactions online, without the need for physical presence at a bank.

Over the years, digital banking has continued to evolve, making banking more convenient and accessible for customers. The introduction of mobile banking in the mid-2000s, further amplified this transformation, enabling customers to 24/7 access their accounts and perform transactions from their smartphones and tablets. Another key factor driving the growth of digital banking is security. Banks have invested heavily in advanced encryption technologies to protect customer data and mitigate fraud and identity theft risks. Additionally, with the increasing popularity of fintech companies, digital banking has become more innovative, introducing features such as budgeting tools, investment options, and real-time account monitoring. Also, some major breakthroughs in recent years, such as the introduction of contactless payments and the implementation of biometric authentication has also fuelled its growth and popularity.

Today, digital banking has become a norm and its future is even more exciting. With constant innovation and breakthroughs, it has become an integral part of our lives, making banking more convenient and accessible than ever before. And as technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see further advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud, blockchain, and open banking from banks looking to stay ahead of the curve.

AI has evolved tremendously since its inception in the 1950s. From automating mundane tasks like data entry and calculations, it has now become a game-changer in the banking industry. With the availability of massive amounts of data and technological advancements, conversational AI is rapidly being adopted by banks to provide exceptional customer experiences, streamline operations, and strengthen security measures.

Providing exceptional customer experience:Over the years, AI has made remarkable strides, with Conversational AI being at the forefront of this development. By leveraging natural language processing (NLP), this technology allows customers to communicate with their bank accounts in a conversational manner. It enables machines to understand human language by analyzing text or speech input and carry out tasks such as balance inquiries, money transfers, bill payments, and personalized financial advice based on personaldata analysis. With the power of machine learning algorithms, chatbots can continue to learn from past customer interactions, improving their accuracy and responsiveness over time. By leveraging deep learning models, which utilize neural networks like those in our brains to process complex information accurately, conversational AI can provide customers with quick and tailored responses, making banking more convenient and accessible. However, it is essential for banks to ensure that this technology is implemented securely while upholding privacy standards. As conversational AI becomes increasingly prevalent in the digital banking sector, it is crucial for banks to leverage its benefits while mitigating any potential risks associated with these technologies.

Improve operational efficiency:AI is transforming the banking industry, enhancing operational efficiency and cutting down costs. Machine learning, a popular AI technology, is enabling banks to automate their decision-making processes, analyze large data sets to predict outcomes, identify patterns, and detect anomalies. With tailored products and services, banks can now cater to their customers specific needs and preferences. Moreover, the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology is allowing banks to analyze and comprehend customer requests, providing personalized responses that enhance their experience. Chatbots, powered by AI, are increasingly becoming popular in banking as they automate routine tasks, reduce wait times, and provide customers with immediate support. Additionally, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is being employed in various core processes to automate manual and repetitive tasks, freeing up staff to focus on more complex tasks that require human intelligence. Lastly, AI is also being utilized for fraud detection and prevention, analyzing transaction patterns to identify fraudulent activities and reduce losses.

Strengthening data security & compliance:The integration of AI technology in the banking industry to enhancedata securityand regulatory compliance is a fascinating development. With the implementation of advanced technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), predictive analytics, and blockchain, the industry is being revolutionized. Banks can now use machine learning algorithms to detect fraudulent activities by analyzing transaction data patterns, while NLP technology scans unstructured data to identify potential risks and security threats. Predictive analytics enables proactive measures to prevent customers from defaulting on loans or credit payments by analyzing customer data and behavior to predict future trends and potential security threats. Finally, the use of blockchain technology provides an extra layer of security, ensuring transaction integrity and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information through a decentralized ledger system.

By now, we all agree that AI is at the forefront of banking transformation. Forward-thinking banks have already integrated AI into their operations and are experiencing impressive results. Here are some examples that demonstrate how AI integration enhances efficiency in the banking sector and delivers smarter insights faster than ever before, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

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Smart Banking: How Cloud Computing and AI are Transforming the ... - NASSCOM Community

In order to promote advanced digital transformation initiatives that are focused on fostering innovation in the UAE, Lenovo and Al Hathboor Bikal.ai have announced a new agreement under which Lenovo will offer both public and private sector customers cutting-edge, high performance cloud computing solutions.

Lenovo will also provide systems and expertise to support Al Hathboor Bikal.ai to build and operate a new sustainable data center at Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP).

The collaboration will see Lenovo and Al Hathboor Bikal.ai, the joint venture between Al Hathboor Group LLC and Bikal Technologies Limited, working together to leverage shared experience in High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to provide customers in the region with advanced capabilities that will enable them to use AI to address business challenges and create new digital technologies.

The agreement was signed at the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park on 17th May in presence of HE Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO SRTIP and Raj Sandhu, GM Al Hathboor Bikal.ai, Mohammed Al Hathboor Management Committee Member of Al Hathboor Bikal.ai, and Alaa Bawab, General Manager, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group, META along with other senior management and dignitaries.

Commenting on the partnership, Raj Sandhu, GM Al Hathboor Bikal.ai said: We have huge ambitions for Sharjah Research and Technology Innovation Park, and this partnership with a global leader like Lenovo, will set the path towards developing tailored infrastructure solutions that will solve both public and private organisational challenges. We look forward to leveraging Lenovos experience in the technology sector and enhancing our digital capabilities while also welcoming new AI-powered and data-enabled research and technologies.

Al Hathboor sees this collaboration as a way to give the UAE a technological advantage to the innovation ecosystem, create jobs and opportunities for our youth, and develop tech for solving regional and global challenges. Lenovo, Nvidia and Intel with SRTIP gives us a joint capability in tech transfer and we look forward with working with our universities, businesses, and government, Added Mohammed Al Hathboor Management Committee Member of Al Hathboor Bikal.ai.

High Performance Computing (HPC) For All

Lenovo will provide HPC hardware and software to Al Hathboor along with operational management and support, to create on demand services for customers as well as managed services support. The partnership will democratise the use of HPC for various private and public sector organisations allowing them to access HPC cluster on a service model.

As an example of one application, the HPC cluster situated at SRTIP can play a crucial role in enhancing citizen health and safety within the emirate of Sharjah. By harnessing the power of HPC, authorities can process and analyze vast amounts of data from various sources, such as CCTV systems, and sensor networks, through to analysing data from patients to diagnose health issues This enables real-time monitoring, helping to identify potential threats swiftly and respond proactively. Additionally, HPC systems can also enhance emergency response and disaster management by optimizing resource allocation, analyzing weather patterns, and coordinating rescue efforts. Furthermore, HPCs advanced analytics capabilities facilitate predictive modelling and machine learning algorithms, enabling agencies to detect patterns of activities and predict potential events. Ultimately, HPC empowers decision-makers to make data-driven choices, enhancing the safety and health of citizens throughout the UAE.

AI & Analytics

The agreement will leverage Lenovos position as the one of the only providers for proven, ready-to-deploy AI-enabled infrastructure solutions that are optimized for industry-leading independent software vendors (ISVs) of any size and scale. Lenovo will also provide support through its AI Centers of Excellence, including access to Lenovo Data Scientists, AI architects and engineers, to leverage the companys multi-industry domain experience to deploy AI and machine learning research solutions that can be used across various sectors including education, R&D, retail, oil & gas and more.

With its AI-ready servers and storage solutions, active partnerships and an ecosystem of ISVs, Lenovo will deliver pre-validated, performance optimized AI-ready solutions on demand, even under the heaviest high-performance workloads.

Sustainable Data Centre

As part of the deal, Lenovo will implement one of the first data center in the region to use Lenovos patented Neptune Liquid Cooling Technology, which will greatly improve energy efficiency and sustainability of services delivered by Al Hathboor. The unique thermal solution uses efficient liquid cooling to reduce cooling requirements in the data centre, reducing energy consumption and contributing to sustainability goals. The solution is designed for sustainable performance and scalability, while supporting the emergent demands for HPC workloads without compromising on performance.

Alaa Bawab, General Manager, Lenovo Infrastructure Group, META added, The agreement with Al Hathboor Bikal.ai for HPCaaS is a gamechanger, providing organizations with the ability to access high performance computing and advanced technologies including AI, to power their digital transformations, with the confidence that they are accessing services from the regions first sustainable data center. He further added, Along with being in line with the UAE Net Zero 2050 policy, the launch of this data centre will also enable access for organizations to powerful solutions and the computing resources to utilize them effectively. This in turn will help drive new innovations, such as Large Language Models similar to GPT-3 and help organizations to bring the benefits of advanced AI to their own operations.

The agreement and the opening of the new sustainable data center both align with the UAE Net Zero 2050 strategic initiative. The initiative is a national drive to reduce net-zero emissions by 2050, powered by key sustainability goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing sustainable practices, and using renewable energy. The new data center keeps this in mind, driving efficiency while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.

The agreement will also form the platform for cooperative activities and research in relevant fields such as technology incubation and development. Both parties will also promote activities to encourage cooperation between technology companies, while supporting each other with international conferences, symposiums, and events.

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Lenovo and Al Hathboor Bikal.ai collaborate to boost innovation with ... - Tahawul Tech

Of course, the question was going to come, because trainer Chad Brown has used the same formula for success in the past the Preakness Stakes (G1) on the biggest day of racing in Maryland.

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Brown won the Preakness in 2017 with a horse named Cloud Computing and again last year with Early Voting. Can he do it again on Saturday when he saddles Blazing Sevens in the eight-horse, 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course?

The big similarity with all three is this: Brown decided not to run any of them in the Kentucky Derby (G1), even though they all had enough qualifying points to get into the field. Instead, he waited for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

He has been successful with that strategy twice. He is hoping it will work again Saturday. Blazing Sevens, owned by John and Carla Capeks Rodeo Racing LLC, is the 6-1 fourth choice on the Preakness morning line.

The biggest difference between Blazing Sevens and the pair of Browns Preakness winners is experience. Blazing Sevens, a son of Good Magic, will be making his seventh career start on Saturday.

The Preakness was the fourth career start for both Early Voting and Cloud Computing.

The fact that we skipped the Derby, with the points, giving (Blazing Sevens) six weeks rest makes him similar to the other two, Brown said. This horse got started earlier. He won the Champagne (G1). They are really different horses to compare.

Blazing Sevens had 46 qualifying points and was solidly in the Derby field before Brown pulled the plug.

Its one of the hardest decisions as a thoroughbred horse trainer to sit out the Kentucky Derby when you have the points, Brown said.

Blazing Sevens last ran in the April 8 Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland and finished third. Equipped with blinkers for the first time, it was a major improvement over his first start in 2023 when he did not run at all in an eighth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream on March 4.

His Blue Grass was very good, a very good step in the right direction, Brown said. But it wasnt quite good enough to set him up to run the race of his life in the Derby, which is what you need to do. I didnt feel he would be ready in four weeks to do that. If you choose to take a shot and go for a home run and miss, not only do you lose the race, you are probably out of the other Triple Crown races, and it just sends you so far backward if you are wrong. I did not want to be wrong.

Blazing Sevens, who is under the watch of Browns assistant Jose Hernandez at Pimlico, galloped about 1 miles for the third straight morning with exercise rider Peer Levia. They went to the track at 6:30 a.m.

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Blazing Sevens, Early Voting, Cloud Computing Same But Different ... - Racing Dudes

Alibaba Group shares were falling on Friday as the market digested its earnings. Excitement over its plans to spin off a series of its units have been undercut by concerns over its cloud-computing business.

Alibabas (ticker: BABA) American depositary receipts (ADRs) were down 2.1% in Fridays premarket to $83.96. That leaves them trading at roughly the same level they were before Alibaba detailed its plans to split itself into six units in late March, which sent the ADRs above $100.

It...

Alibaba Group shares were falling on Friday as the market digested its earnings. Excitement over its plans to spin off a series of its units have been undercut by concerns over its cloud-computing business.

Alibaba s (ticker: BABA) American depositary receipts (ADRs) were down 2.1% in Fridays premarket to $83.96. That leaves them trading at roughly the same level they were before Alibaba detailed its plans to split itself into six units in late March, which sent the ADRs above $100.

It was a similar story in Hong Kong trading, where Alibaba shares fell 6% and are now down 4.4% for the year so far.

The Chinese technology companys first-quarter earnings on Thursday were initially well received. However, analysts subsequently focused on a disappointing performance in the prized cloud division, where revenue fell 2% from the same period a year earlier.

Both Alibaba and rival Tencent have announced price cuts for their cloud-computing services amid weak corporate demand and excess capacity, which has plunged the industry into a price war, wrote Sergio Avila, a market analyst at IG, in a research note.

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Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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Alibaba Stock Is Falling. The Breakup Bounce Has Faded. - Barron's

Stock analysts at StockNews.com have now commenced coverage on Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) in their latest report, published on Thursday. In what could be exciting news for investors, the team has issued a buy rating on the technology companys stock.

Nutanix is a multinational technology company that provides software and hardware solutions for cloud computing applications. The firm was incorporated in 2009 and has since grown to become an industry leader, providing a wide range of services to businesses across the globe.

The StockNews.com report highlights Nutanixs impressive growth potential, with the firm expected to capitalize on the booming cloud computing market. The rise of remote work and digitization of businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic has brought cloud adoption to the forefront of many organizations agendas.

This newfound focus on cloud-based applications is expected to fuel demand for Nutanixs products and services in the coming years, boosting profitability and revenue growth. Additionally, increased spending on IT infrastructure by governments and corporates worldwide bodes well for Nutanixs long-term prospects.

But as with any investment opportunity, there are risks involved. The StockNews.com team acknowledges that competition in the industry remains intense from companies like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform(GCP), Oracle Corporation(OCI), IBM Bluemix among others. Further downside risk could come from any possible cyberattack or data breach incidents which can damage both reputation and profitability.

In conclusion, this new coverage by StockNews.com on Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX) is a positive sign for investors looking for growth opportunities in technology stocks. With its strong position in the cloud computing market combined with an enviable track record of strong financials since going public in 2016, Nutanix stands poised to capture significant growth opportunities in the years ahead. Of course, investors must weigh up all factors positive or negative before making an informed decision on whether to invest or not.

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Nutanix, a cloud platform provider, has recently been the subject of multiple research reports by top analysts in the industry. According to Needham & Company LLC, the stock should be bought as it is predicted to reach a target price of $33.00 per share. Susquehanna concurs with this sentiment and rates it positively, stating their own projected target price of $34.00 per share. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada suggested an outperform rating and a price target of $33.00 per share.

Despite some hold ratings from four equities research analysts, eight have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Even with these varying opinions and insights into Nutanixs market performance, Bloomberg.com cites the stock as having a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $31.92.

Examining its recent opening at $26.27 per share on Thursday, one can see that Nutanix has seen significant fluctuations within its 52-week high and low range at $33.73 and $13.44 per share respectively.

Nutanix operates through web-scale engineering and consumer-grade design to offer cutting-edge cloud solutions for enterprise infrastructure needs for companies around the world from their San Jose-based headquarters.

As potential investors consider Nutanix given the reports from analysts both in favor and against buying shares, many will look at other factors such as market capitalization, P/E ratio and beta rate which stands at approximately 1.36 indicating higher volatility in comparison to the general market.

While opinions may differ regarding this technology companys future prospects among prominent financial firms or investment houses alone are not enough reason for lay persons to make rash decisions about investing their savings in any equity-specific venture without thorough analysis and appropriate financial planning according to individual circumstances always advised by experts in relevant fields before taking significant investment steps such as stock purchasing or selling decisions or engaging with financial tools such as mutual funds or investment portfolios.

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StockNews.com Issues 'Buy' Rating on Nutanix, Citing Growth ... - Best Stocks

(Bloomberg) If you want to catch the brisk recovery rally in tech stocks this year, youd better buy shares exposed to artificial intelligence, such as Nvidia Corp., or cloud computing and avoid the popular behemoths like Apple Inc., Google-parent Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.

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Thats the view of Zehrid Osmani, manager of Franklin Templetons $158 million FTGF Martin Currie Global Long-Term Unconstrained Fund, which is beating 96% of peers in 2023 with returns of about 15% versus an 8% gain in the MSCI All-Country World Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nvidia, one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI-related demand, Dutch semiconductor firm ASML Holding NV and Microsoft Corp. rank among the funds biggest holdings.

While Osmani is overweight the tech sector as a whole, hes notably staying away from Apple, Alphabet, Facebook-owner Meta and Netflix Inc. as theyre more directly exposed to the consumer, the fund manager said in an interview in London. They also score poorly on the funds fundamental metrics scale, which includes themes such as infrastructure, green and alternative energy and electric transportation.

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Tech is still attractive as we think the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates, although we dont expect rate cuts, Osmani said. But you have to look at it through different segments rather than invest across Big Tech.

The fund manager is among a chorus of market participants bullish on AI-related stocks. An analysis by Societe Generale SA strategists found that, without the hype around AI, the S&P 500 index would be lower this year instead of having gained 8%. The team at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said AI-related shares now offer the biggest potential long-term support for US profit margins.

Banks Unattractive

Osmani is also staying away from banks globally, despite cheaper valuations. The sudden collapse of a slate of US regional banks since March has roiled the sector and prompted investors to slash allocation to financials at a pace not seen since before the global financial crisis, according to Bank of America Corp.s latest global fund manager survey.

Banking is an industry that has high competitive pressures, diminishing barriers to entry, low pricing power and is facing a higher risk of disruption, Osmani said. All of which leads us to believe that the industry dynamics arent attractive.

With assistance from Ksenia Galouchko.

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Top-Performing Fund Manager Bets on AI, Cloud Tech; Shuns Apple - Financial Post

Amazon.com s cloud computing service wont be left in the dust during the big tech AI race, according to a Loop Capital analyst.

While Amazon (ticker: AMZN) recently reported a slowdown in its Amazon Web Services unit, analyst Rob Sanderson wrote in a research note that it was transitory. He has confidence the deceleration in AWS revenue growth will bottom then reverse.

Amazon reported first-quarter earnings and sales that beat Wall Street estimates on April 27, but warned customer cloud spending had slowed.

One reason Sanderson, who rates the stock as a Buy with a $140 price target, believes AWS will grow from here is the future of artificial intelligence.

As the excitement surrounding generative AI has been centered around Microsoft and Google, many investors question whether AWS is in a disadvantaged position, Sanderson wrote. We think more investors will soon recognize thatAI will drive meaningful expansion in cloud demand and AWS will be a major participant.

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But not all analysts are as bullish on Amazons cloud growth. Ita BBA analyst Thiago Alves Kapulskis wrote in a research note after Amazons earnings that the competition between Amazon and Microsoft s (MSFT) cloud services is a concern.

With so much uncertainty on AMZN and after the significant divergence in Azure vs. AWS, we believe that the market will favor the former, and its parent, rather than the latter, the analyst wrote. He ratesAmazon as Outperform with a $124 price target.

Microsoft reported strong performance from Azure, its cloud platform, during its quarterly earnings.

Shares of Amazon were down 0.4% Monday to $105.19 while the S&P 500

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Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

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Amazon's Cloud Slowdown Is Transitory. AI Could Drive Growth. - Barron's

Debunking the Top 5 myths about cloud computing for business leaders to make informed decisions

Business executives must distinguish reality from fiction about cloud computing security because there are several myths and misconceptions about the cloud. To assist CISOs, CIOs, and other business executives in making best decisions for their organizations, we are debunking the top 5 myths about cloud computing in this article.

The cloud might be intrinsically vulnerable if one trusts the rumors and viewpoints of several technical, commercial, and security-focused media. These reports frequently focus on only one feature of cloud computing: its susceptibility to hacker assaults and data breaches since it can be accessed from any global location with an internet connection.

One of the most pervasive misconceptions about CSPs is that they need to have unfettered access to consumer information. Examples of high-profile data breaches and unauthorized access instances have fed this misconception, raising questions about consumer privacy and security in the cloud sector.

Those who only consider the up-front expenses of implementation sometimes promote the fallacy that cloud computing is too expensive. However, focusing on this initial, one-time expense ignores the savings and advantages that cloud computing offers over the long run. Companies may save money on hardware, software, and manpower by outsourcing infrastructure maintenance to cloud providers.

There is a learning curve for small firms to comprehend and utilize technologies like cloud computing. But there is a misunderstanding that cloud computing is only for large corporations. The flexibility of cloud computing is regularly praised, and it has emerged as a crucial technology for companies of all kinds. It has several advantages, including scalability and affordability.

Despite cloud computings widespread acceptance across many business verticals in recent years, the misconception that it does not adhere to industry norms and laws persists. Due to their concern of falling out of compliance, many firms have refrained from implementing cloud technology due to this misperception.

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Debunking the Top 5 Myths About Cloud Computing - Analytics Insight

The Atmospheric Rise of Cloud Computing

From the dawn of civilization right up until 2003, human beings generated 5 exabytes of stored information. Now this is created every two days.

And by 2025, half of all the worlds data will be found on the cloud, allowing people to save, control, and work with it remotely or in any other setting.

In the infographic above, sponsored by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, we dive into everything you need to know about the atmospheric rise of cloud computing.

Many types of data, from text files, images, and videos to large archives and applications data, are stored on the cloud.

Today, the average employee uses 36 cloud-based services daily, and corporations as a whole store about 60% of their data on the cloud.

Different cloud storage services have been created based on this growing demand. Consequently, there are four main cloud storage systems according to Spiceworks:

Cloud storage systems require physical infrastructure, and the primary types are:

Individuals and organisations can increase flexibility and responsiveness when analysing data by using data warehouses processing power and data lakes storage size, both of which are becoming larger and more powerful each year.

Despite the global cloud storage market being just one segment of the overall cloud computing market, it is expected to reach over $376 billion with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%.

The fastest-growing regions for the cloud storage market are the Middle East and Africa. Moreover, the fastest-growing segment is backup and disaster recovery.

The fast expansion of cloud computing as a whole is expected to catapult the market to a staggering $947.3 billion by 2026almost double what it was in 2022.

Cloud computing and cloud storage are often used interchangeably but are not the same. Cloud computing provides processing power made available over the cloud to do computational tasks, e.g. Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud.

However, cloud storage provides data storage capacity available over the cloud, e.g. Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox.

By 2026, 45% of all IT spending is anticipated to be allocated toward innovative cloud development and management firms.

Investing in companies like Databricks and those providing modern cloud systems, such as Snowflake, will be key to driving progress and innovation in the future.

Scottish Mortgage gives exposure to these and other pioneers of progress. In the next part of this Pioneers of Progress Series, we dive into the synthetic biology market.

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The Atmospheric Rise of Cloud Computing - Visual Capitalist

There have been some misleading headlines floating around the mainstream media as of late regarding cloud computing. Articles from the Wall Street Journal (CIOs Still Waiting for Cloud Investments to Pay Off) and InfoWorld (Companies are Still Waiting on their Cloud ROI) have been stirring up misinformation around the claim that cloud computing has not delivered the ROI it initially promised and that companies have been pulling out, seeking greater cost saving opportunities on premise.

At Cloudticity, weve been openly critical of this narrative these past few months, sharing our insight on where these articles went wrong and how to properly engage in a discussion around cloud computing ROI by looking beyond cost savings to other more important measures.

But a new article by David Linthicum in InfoWorld called Making a New Business Case for Cloud Computing finally gets it right. In the article he states:

The most significant value of cloud computing is rarely found in cost savings, although they sometimes do occur; its about delivering the more critical business values of agility and speed to innovation.

To that we say, bravo! Were glad to hear that the industry is finally getting some clarity here. Looking at the cloud as merely a cost saving solution is to miss the point entirely of what the cloud is and what it delivers.

As the InfoWorld article mentions, it was never about cost savings. There are soft values attributed to cloud that are difficult to quantify and measure. But if you take the time to look, thats where youll find the gold.

When evaluating the ROI of your cloud computing program, consider the following areas of transformation.

Cloud computing was designed to make it easier for companies to innovate, without having to worry about managing hardware and maintenance of the physical space.

For one, you can test out a new idea upon its conception in the cloud. You can say, Hmm, I wonder if this would be a good project. And you can spin up a virtual server for pennies on the dollar to test out your new idea. Then, you can spin the server down right away if its not working out how youd hoped.

Imagine trying to accomplish that same scenario on-premise. Youd have to create a project plan and budgeting proposal. Youd have to get buy-in and approval from the top. Then, youd have to order hardware, wait for it to be delivered, wait for the infrastructure team to rack it and stack it and get it tuned up.

If you didnt plan your infrastructure needs perfectly you could end up needing more than you initially anticipated, causing the whole project to come to a screeching halt. Or, perhaps you ordered too much and the project never ended up taking off how you envisioned. The business takes a loss, and youre the one at fault!

An incentive structure like that just doesnt foster innovation. But using the cloud, experimentation is very low risk making it an ideal environment for companies aiming to be on the cutting edge with their tech to stay ahead of an innovative market.

The cloud is allowing companies to deliver 3x more features per year, or perhaps even more. While its hard to measure the ROI of that, we know anecdotally that its significant.

In an on-premises model, it can be prohibitively costly to keep up with technology advances. Organizations typically replace on-premises servers every three to five years, which is an eternity in the fast-paced world of technology.

Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google take the opposite approach. They adopt new technologies as they are introduced and quickly make them available to their customers as a competitive differentiator.

This means that companies using the public cloud can readily adopt the latest and greatest technologies as soon as theyre introduced, test them out and integrate them into their solutions without a large capital investment or even a commitment.

Lets take a closer look at what this means for something like a machine learning (ML) instance.

Historically, artificial intelligence (AI) and ML frameworks were incredibly complex and expensive to implement and manage. Only well-funded organizations with a large amount of capital to throw around were able to invest in this technology. Today, cloud providers have made this technology available to nearly anyone with an internet connection.

In an industry like healthcare, the ability to run ML models on large sets of patient data is practically invaluable. By scanning terabytes, petabytes, or exabytes of historical data for trends and anomalies, healthcare organizations are able to identify more effective treatments, predict outcomes with incredible accuracy and even diagnose life-threatening problems earlier in order to increase the chances of survival.

When discussing the ROI of cloud in a space like healthcare, its necessary to flip the question around. What is the cost of not putting these new tools to work? How many people will die that could have been saved?

In other industries, like financial services, the answer will be less emotionally charged, but meaningful nonetheless.

A telehealth provider client of ours experienced a 30-fold increase in demand for their application during March 2020. If this was an on-premise solution the company would have had to throw in the towel and accept the dreary fate of not being able to support all the potential business. Theyd have missed out on customers while also failing to perform their business mission of providing critical healthcare.

Luckily, this was a cloud-native application. It required some re-architecture to account for the change, but within a matter of hours it was up and running in tip-top shape, reliable and performant and able to handle the influx of patients who needed care.

Being able to serve all potential customers without ever turning anyone away is a huge value that may be difficult for businesses to measure. But, again, its worth asking the question: whats the cost of not having this capability?

Infrastructure management is an undifferentiated activity, meaning that its administrative and doesnt increase your applications competitive advantage in the eyes of customers in the way that a new feature or solution would. Its more like a utility. You just need it to work!

Compare it to something like managing an electrical plant. Would you rather recruit and hire electrical experts, build out a power plant on your premises, and manage that going forward, or would you rather simply plug into the system and pay the provider for what you use?

The cloud allows companies the opportunity to allocate more internal resources toward differentiated activities that require creativity, innovation, and industry knowledge to do well. Things like developing applications, delivering healthcare or creating and executing strategic business plans can all receive greater focus when you retire your data center and start using the public cloud.

In a discussion around cloud ROI, take a look at what percentage of internal resources and individual employee time is dedicated to differentiated vs. undifferentiated activities, and compare that to pre-cloud transition.

Most people these days understand the shared responsibility model and are bought into the idea that the cloud has the potential to be more secure than traditional infrastructure. Thats because the big CSPs can hire the best cybersecurity talent in the world and invest in best-in-breed tools that allow them to secure their end of the cloud more effectively than most organizations could if they owned the infrastructure themselves.

Another benefit of the shared responsibility arrangement is that security certifications and compliance attestations become easier to achieve in the public cloud. CSPs like AWS, Microsoft and Google all offer services that are HITRUST, SOC 2 and FedRAMP compliant, to name just a few of the supported compliance frameworks. Just by using those services, you can inherit attestation to various controls (or policies) that your CSP has already met. You can shave dozens or hundreds of hours off your certification or audit timeline by inheriting from your CSP. In fact, companies that work with Cloudticity are reducing their HITRUST certification timeline by 4060%.

Global cyber attacks increased 38% in 2022. It goes without saying the value of good security is high, and these certifications offer other benefits such as increased marketability in highly regulated markets, which can directly translate to financial ROI.

You wouldnt measure the value of a car based on how much cheaper it is than a horse. Similarly, you cant measure the overall value cloud delivers by the size of your bill.

There are cost-saving opportunities based on how you architect and manage your cloud. You should absolutely focus on cloud cost optimization, but cost savings shouldnt be your number one goal.

Cloud is about enabling organizations to solve problems that previously could not be solved. Its about freeing companies to get out of the data center business so they can be pioneers and focus on what makes them very, very special.

Its gratifying to see the industry finally coming around to understand this. It would be a shame for the world to miss out on all the potential value cloud has to offer because of some uninformed headlines.

Originally posted here:

Setting the Record Straight on Cloud Computing ROI - The New Stack