We’ve all heard of the proverbial Jack being nimble and quick – and if Jack were one of today’s IT decision-makers, it’s clear that his tool of choice to jump over the candlestick (achieve digital transformation goals) would be the cloud.
In today’s business climate, agility means being able to rise above challenges, meet the needs of your customers, and easily pivot when the time comes. Remember when the global pandemic shut the world down in March 2020? Many businesses survived because they were able to shift with the sudden dramatic change in how people did business. Restaurants opened up dining areas on makeshift patios and closed roads. Grocery stores offered online shopping with curbside pickup. Concert venues streamed live performances.
Hopefully, we will never see a challenge as extreme as the COVID pandemic again, but agility is nonetheless critical to surviving and thriving in today’s increasingly fast-paced world. Part of the challenge businesses face comes from the sheer amount of data and number of unique demands being created by their customers, partner organizations and others. If done correctly, collecting, managing, analyzing and using that data and associated platforms positions you to not only react to change but anticipate what’s coming. With this in mind, agility afforded by implementing cloud solutions cannot be understated. Here’s a look at three industries where businesses have leveraged the cloud to increase their agility.
If done correctly, collecting, managing, analyzing and using that data and associated platforms positions you to not only react to change but anticipate what’s coming
Take It to the Bank
Financial institutions have found a multitude of ways to leverage the cloud. They identified cloud-based solutions in a wide range of areas, including customer-facing platforms and regulatory compliance. HSBC, for example, used the cloud to aid in its anti-money laundering efforts. The firm faced fines after finding it difficult to effectively manage its customer anti-money laundering risks, but with so many customers making transactions across networks, keeping track of suspicious activity was an arduous task. The multinational bank now uses machine learning to evaluate the activity of 38 million customers and identify those who warrant a closer look. Rather than relying on staff members to handle this task, the cloud-based analysis is now automated and more exhaustive because it takes into account more data points from several sources. Today, HSBC is looking at the possibility of sharing information with other financial institutions to enhance anti-money laundering efforts across the industry.
For Your Health
Healthcare providers deal with vast amounts of highly sensitive data. Cloud-based solutions can help them manage and share data, improving patient outcomes while also meeting federal regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Healthcare is complex, highly regulated and involves layers upon layers of bureaucracy. One patient visit could involve staff members getting involved in processes across clinical, laboratory, admissions and billing operations. Data moves from all these different groups and triggers different courses of action depending on job function. Often, particularly at a large hospital, different systems are in place to manage all of this information, making it difficult to access and use critical data when providing patient care. With the cloud, all that data can be managed under one solution, with access limited to the right people depending on their roles. What’s more, tasks can be automated based on inputs, increasing efficiency and streamlining processes.
On the Line
Manufacturing has come a long way from Henry Ford’s first assembly lines. Most tasks have been automated in modern manufacturing, requiring less human intervention and achieving higher productivity. The Internet of Things makes it possible for manufacturing devices to communicate with each other, opening the door to many opportunities for optimization and forecasting future needs. Data from IoT devices can be used to monitor machine health and manage inventory. Of course, the human element remains critical, and tapping into the cloud is what allows decision-makers enhanced visibility, which they can use to position their operations optimally. It could be a matter of knowing where you can slow down production in one area in order to ramp up in another. Having access to the data (and the right levels of processing power) is what makes it possible to see where changes can be made as the need arises.
Your Gateway to the Cloud
These are only a few examples of how the cloud has helped businesses become more agile. The fundamentals, though, are universal: Manage, access and use data to your advantage. Here at 1623 Farnam, we know how important it is to have access to a cloud-rich, robust ecosystem, which is why we’ve made it a priority to cultivate partnerships with key cloud enablers like Megaport, Console Connect, PacketFabric and more. With rich, direct and highly secure connections to these enablers and all the most in-demand clouds, any business goals or digital transformation initiatives can be primed for success. Plus, as a carrier-neutral data center, you can feel free to choose a connectivity method that works for you.
To learn more about our cloud ecosystem, click here.