Business in the Cloud
40
Project achieves the desired process change
Employees use data to generate new insights in
new contexts
It can be observed that there is a clear shift from the tasks and requirements
demanded from the people involved in the project, as well as behavioral change
requested that steers into a discovery-driven area, rather than a traditional goal-
setting/implementing one. Due to the novelty of cloud services as a new line of
business, experiments with cloud related topics gain more credence.
6.2.1
Experiments with the Cloud
Cloud Services and cloud computing provide a vast variety of available business
software for the majority of industries. They encompass applications for productivity
(
f.i. Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365), tools for customer relations (f.i. Salesforce),
Human Resources (f.i. Workday), or for monitoring social media (f.i. HubSpot). As
far as it possible for the company, it makes sense to approach the “cloud” step-by-
step, especially if cloud services are completely new ground for the company. In
such cases experiments can be a powerful tool to evoke the interest of gatekeepers
in the company and to find allies to support the strategy. In order to prove the
efficiency of those experiments it is necessary to develop a proper test environment
(
e.g. Chapter 4.3.1 – Three System Landscape), by for example outsourcing some
small parts of the business related activities and processes into the cloud, while
other parts remain untouched. After a specified period of time, data should be
collected about: costs, employee satisfaction, deviations, as well as the impact on
the business activity. It can be advantageous to use a risk map, which is often also
applied for strategic controlling purposes (f.i. Budgeting, Investment), to evaluate
potential risks to better gain an insight on how to proceed (Isom & Holley, 2012, pp.
262-263).
Furthermore McAfee (2012, pp. 60-64) recommends to frequently
consulting the law and compliance departments in order to pursue a suitable path
that leads to a sustainable result.
Source: modified after (Marchand & Peppard, 2013, p. 109)
