Avanade CEO: The Cloud Enables A World Of Opportunity For Enterprises

New applications, new capabilities, and better data – those are just a few of the reasons Avanade's top execs said should be top of mind as companies are moving their business processes to the cloud.

"One of the main things about getting your systems to the cloud is that you open up the availability to see a lot of data, and not just the data in your enterprise, but also data from other enterprises in this ever-connected world," said Adam Warby, CEO of Avanade.

In doing this, he said, the cloud provides customers with the ability to track information and get access to data that otherwise would unavailable. That data, coupled with accessing systems in new ways, can change how enterprises work.

"This topic of innovation is critical to companies as they rethink the industry they are in and the business they’re in," said Warby. "Moving to the cloud opens up the access to not just the system that they might have had on-premise, but also, all of the services that are being provided outside."

Mick Slattery, Avanade's president of North America, noted that the cloud is powering a move to a more mobile enterprise, giving businesses more flexibility in their operations. "We see a lot of new customer interactions and new smartphone applications, for example, that tend to have some level of cloud behind them," he said.

Slattery also explained that there are new classes of applications that are leveraging cloud software. The Internet of Things is just one.

"There are other classes of apps that I don’t think we’ve started to see yet around, like artificial intelligence and machine learning, which are things that are just starting to come to the fold," he said.

Ultimately, the execs said simply moving to the cloud won't build your business, but it can add a new dimension, more efficiency and reach to the business you already have. "Cloud is just an enabler," said Slattery. "It really allows you to make the most out of what you’re doing."