Moving to the cloud and having up-to-date business applications makes things easier for companies and their IT departments. If you really want to improve your company you have to create an arena where business and technology work and thrive together.
While the first step is the technology you choose, it’s equally important to look at your company’s cloud migration as a holistic business transformation. To be successful, you must pay attention to change and people management. The result is worth it when you get cloud operations right and transform your entire organisation.
Business and IT managers believed the cloud would finally free companies from demanding business systems. Costs and resources spent on operating, maintaining and upgrading hardware and software would diminish. At the same time, the business would get up-to-date and user-friendly systems by migrating to the cloud.
Indeed, cloud solutions offer major benefits, including reduced costs and enhanced flexibility to meet current business needs. According to calculations by Infor, companies can save up to 50% compared to running on-premises solutions as soon as they switch to the cloud.
Different approach in the cloud
But the cloud requires a different approach to running IT operations. For example, you’re sharing control of your IT platform with application providers, such as Microsoft and Infor, since they manage updates on their platforms.
It’s why companies should approach transition holistically, with careful thought to the processes, skillsets and resources required and consideration of key factors such as governance to ensure successful implementation.
Additionally, we believe that major transformation projects don’t have an end date. Even when you reach your desired state, new trends and customer demands will push you to develop further.
These challenges are just some reasons why, here at Columbus, we go beyond the traditional approach to managed services. Our approach combines application maintenance and support, updates management and business development practice adapted for the cloud age.
Our Cloud Application Management Services cover three key areas:
Operation, maintenance and support: This includes reducing risk of downtime and maintaining the highest levels of IT security. We monitor your system and ensure everything is operational. We provide a service desk and support. The result is lower and predictable costs, better user experiences and an increase in productivity.
Updates that allow you to grow: We make sure cloud applications are updated effectively and securely. We test your company’s applications and ensure they are compatible with your customisations and any third-party solutions your company uses. At the same time, we make sure your IT systems comply with regulations regarding set-up, use and security.
We also continuously monitor whether licensing and processes are aligned with your current systems. Incorrect licensing can be costly, even for smaller outfits.
Continuous innovation and development: Transformation is perpetual, so we help our customers discover opportunities for optimisation and evolution of business value.
We connect IT and business more closely to find ways to take greater advantage of technology and achieve desired business goals. It usually requires close co-operation between key stakeholders to develop a joint vision and key priorities. In these workshops we work together on defining small and large projects improving and developing processes and ways of working. We use all the tools in the box to to deliver on the strategy, such as AI, business automation, machine learning, improved processes and user adoption.
Cloud helps IT leaders drive the entire business forward
Once you’re in the cloud, you have much greater scope for initiating projects and exploiting the flexibility of cloud-based eco-systems. You can become more advanced in data analytics and invest more easily and cheaply in data collection, processing and storage in data lakes.
This is where AI, machine learning and process automation come into play, with technology laying the groundwork for innovation in operations, strategy and business development.
New cloud-based systems, such as Infor CloudSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365, offer opportunities to develop automation and collect data and in core business functions, such as finance, to tailor functionality to process.
That’s why it’s important to have a partner who can align the advantages offered through technology with your business strategies and goals.
Columbus has a wide-ranging portfolio of services, including high-quality support, security, release management, functionality exploitation, automation and data management – everything required to make your business more competitive.
As a customer, you have the flexibility to adapt the range of services according to your needs and how much you have already explored the possibilities offered by the cloud.
You also get a single point of contact – a dedicated Service Delivery Manager – to drive the process. They are responsible for calibrating your progress, managing access to resources and ensuring you get the results you need to to deliver value from your transformation project.
Mind the gap - or how the cloud and constant updates help avoid innovation debt
The innovation gap defines the discrepancy between expectations and capability for innovation. However, there is something worse — innovation debt.
It happens when companies have the technical potential to innovate but choose not to do so as their business-critical systems have many local adaptations or may be perceived as too costly or risky to upgrade.
With the cloud, you can easily avoid innovation debt as your digital platform becomes the basis for continuous development and growth. There’s no reason to wait to fulfil your business needs or pursue optimisation opportunities.
But it’s crucial to embrace agile and flexible ways of working to benefit from continuous updates and features which open up growth opportunities.
At Columbus, we:
- Highlight how upcoming updates will impact your business’ solutions and business processes.
- Test all updates for our customers in advance, ensuring they are fully compatible with their business’ IT systems and any third-party solutions.
Cloud-based business applications are updated continuously. Microsoft currently releases seven updates per year, while Infor releases 11.
We understand that companies need professional structured, systematic management of their business-critical systems, including integrations.
So, at Columbus, we decided to reduce the number of annual updates in order to make things simpler for businesses.
Our starting point was carrying out two major updates and two minor ones. The result is that the latest technology and functionality are available, and IT security is ensured in the best way possible, while at the same time errors are corrected continuously and the solution is compliant with applicable legal frameworks.
We aim to be the right partner for our clients - one who is more than just a run-of-the-mill ERP supplier and, instead, an advisor who knows business strategy, change management and technology, who develops in co-operation with ERP, e-commerce and CRM specialists, and whose data analysis experts can get the most out of the opportunities data and AI offer.
Testing guarantees business continuity
How do we create security and stability in this landscape? Well, we test, test and test again.
One of the major challenges is limiting the risk associated with running new code on a business-critical system. This needs a comprehensive, automated testing system.
At Columbus, we run from 100 to 500 automated tests on all new releases before rolling them out to our customers’ systems.
This is something very few companies can manage by themselves. But, by doing so, we minimise risk and ensure that business continues as normal, even after updates.
Understanding the details and impact of each update
Another resource-heavy challenge is keeping up with the details of each update. What new functions have been added, and which have been phased out? What changes might pose challenges?
Dynamics 365 is a good example of how much work can be involved here. Twice a year, Microsoft sends out 1,500-page Wave Release Notes, containing information on upcoming changes to the platform.
Getting a full overview of the release content can be an enormous undertaking for a company’s IT department, but, as a specialist and IT partner, we have the resources to interpret and decode the content and to deliver the updates effectively and efficiently for our clients.
Carefully considered application management strategy
A carefully considered application management strategy is indispensable if the digital platform that businesses rely on is to remain safe, secure, flexible and up to date. A good strategy will also ensure that the platform grows in sync with both the market and developing technology.
Your company can choose which services specifically are important in your current situation. Many companies opt to restrict their cloud migration to the bare minimum and to develop solutions afterward. So, it’s important to have a partner who has a big-picture perspective of the business and a holistic service portfolio.
With Cloud Operation Services, we at Columbus want to do everything we can to ensure your business’ digital platforms are stable and secure today, while, at the same time, developing them to meet the organisational and market needs of tomorrow and the years to come.
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