Why Live Enterprises should live on the Cloud

Large incumbent enterprises struggle to predictably recognize potentially game-changing market stimuli when they are in the middle of it. Consumed as they are dealing with the real-world constrictions and pressures of running their complex businesses and operations, their ability to recognize the signals amidst the noise is limited. This means they are constrained in their ability to spot new things that might find favor with their customers and to respond boldly with new business models and choices.

The aspiration to nurture start-up-like responsiveness, increase the velocity of innovation, and build new digital-powered business models is ubiquitous but rarely fully achieved. On the other hand, digital-native companies look beyond the obvious advantages of cost, scale, and efficiency to more significant possibilities. Here are some reasons why Live Enterprises, like digital natives, live on the Cloud:

Cloud-based firms drive experience. The Cloud is how digital natives drive customer engagement. Without a physical distribution network, ready customer base, pedigree, or deep pockets, they challenge established incumbents by existing for their customers. Live Enterprises also know the needs of their customers and fulfill them at every opportunity – they gather data, derive insights and actions, and act upon them before the window of opportunity closes. This delivery of relevant, personalized, and frictionless experience drives the business model of many cloud-based companies.

Cloud-based businesses thrive on ecosystems. It is fair to say that digital-born companies, like Live Enterprises, sustain themselves through deep collaboration. While standalone, pipeline businesses of the past focused on manufacturing and distributing products, digital-native firms focus on serving and engaging customers. They build large external ecosystems, to which they connect through their cloud platform, to get the most out of their partners, developers, and co-creators, in the least time.

Cloud-based companies are innovative by design. Many digital-native firms focus on finding and solving problems; they dedicate multiple teams to constantly experimenting, exploring, and prototyping solutions. This is only possible because they are on the Cloud, where they can tap unlimited compute capacity for innovation at will, test new ideas, reject the ones that fail and quickly scale up.

Cloud-based businesses are inherently sustainable. Cloud-based companies save greenhouse emissions. Where on-prem infrastructure leaves a massive carbon footprint by housing and maintaining its servers -- cloud-based infrastructure is energy and resource-efficient and hence friendlier to the environment. Also, as businesses on the Cloud pay for the capacity they use, they consume resources more carefully, even ramping down assets when they’re not needed.

Incumbent, pre-digital companies are rapidly taking to the Cloud, compelled by the proposition that it can help grow business, expand into new markets, elevate customer experience, launch new products and services while optimizing costs and driving up productivity. As more and more enterprises take to the Cloud, the possibility of transforming into a Live Enterprise becomes a closer reality.