This is an excerpt from the upcoming Designed Analytics report “Innovating With Cloud: The Starting Point”. The report will be published on 03/31/2024.

Last three chapters covered the capabilities that cloud, and cloud-based solutions provide. They were primarily focused in the areas of data, analytics, and process management because if you dissect all possibilities of innovation that you can generate leveraging cloud, these three will form the core enablers of that innovation. Also, just to reiterate, we are talking about innovation that leverages technology. In this case, cloud-based services are the enabler we are focused on. And within cloud-based services, these are the three categories that will be leveraged the most.

Pick any capability that you believe is an innovation, fueled by cloud. You will find that at the core, it is powered by at least two of these capabilities. So now we can start getting into understanding what the key essential steps to innovating with cloud. We have all the fundamentals we need. We explored the true meaning of innovation; hierarchies of innovation and the three types of impact cloud offerings can make. We overviewed the fundamentals of the three core areas of data, analytics, and process management. Now is the time to start putting all this together.

The report assumes that you have a cloud strategy. Do not pursue a cloud strategy because everyone else has one. Do not use a template that was used by some other company in your industry. Your cloud strategy must be extremely tailored to your specific nuances. This will help you make the right choices in designing the right portfolio. We will proceed with the understanding that you already have a cloud strategy, that has been prudently designed. Also, you have hence invested in an optimal portfolio of cloud-based services, based on your cloud strategy. And that becomes our starting point from a technology capabilities perspective.

When you developed your cloud strategy, you envisioned a roadmap of progressive capabilities, something on the lines of the layers of efficiency, transformation, and innovation that we have discussed before. If not, here is how you can leverage the two different hierarchies we discussed previously, and then extrapolate them to add more granularities to your roadmap.

Starting with the constraints

The fundamental question that you need to ask, even if you have already made the move to the cloud, is asking the question-“Other than cost, what are the key constraints we are looking to overcome with cloud”? This is a fundamental question that probably is already embedded in your cloud strategy. But these questions also act as groundwork for generating innovation. If you were not constrained by the capabilities of your on-premises infrastructure but made the move because cloud was cost efficient, you are on the efficiency layer of the cloud-based capabilities hierarchy.

Don’t forget to download the report once it is published.