While interconnected and reliant on each other, various elements of cloud technology come together to form an overarching cloud ecosystem. This landscape is rapidly growing in size, scope and complexity, and operating in this new realm has become a necessity for modern businesses and technology solutions.
The cloud ecosystem includes every service, application and person working and operating within a particular cloud infrastructure. And when ecosystems begin to overlap, this usage creates a more dynamic movement that fosters the evolution of cloud computing.
Cloud service providers (CSPs) like Amazon Web Services (AWS), clients across verticals, IT professionals and developers, as well as end-users, are the players within cloud ecosystems. Harnessing cloud computing, streamlining services, increasing the speed of provisioning and working together as a more extensive network push businesses toward greater collaboration, innovation, analysis and growth.
Via real-time data access and process automation, the cloud ecosystem economy enables the conducting of business, impacting the entire organization through an effective, multifaceted and communal approach.
An EY tech transformation and intelligence leader recently claimed that the cloud is the only platform capable of rapidly orchestrating such a complex ecosystem of suppliers, partners, producers and customers in real-time. And this can be done without significant CAPEX investments and spending on commodity services like hardware procurement, maintenance and sunsetting.
Without a doubt, this continually evolving ecosystem can become the basis for innovative digital solutions and products, making cloud services integral for digital transformation.
Cloud Ecosystem Partners
For their part, global CSPs seeking to expand can target those sectors where they can bring best practices and offer a suite of technology solutions, leading to accelerated business value creation.
A McKinley analysis revealed that consumer-facing functions, including marketing and sales as well as service operations, have the highest average cloud adoption rates, while more internal functions, such as logistics, manufacturing and risk, have the lowest.
Enterprises then need to take advantage of the cloud in order to evolve their business models and processes. These use cases are likely to be developed and implemented through partnerships between CSPs and other technology providers.
Indeed, CEOs now see ecosystem partners as strategic leverage to grow their businesses. In an Accenture report, over 80% of the highest-ranking business leaders said that ecosystems are critical to their strategies of disruption in their markets, while over 60% see ecosystems as a way of embracing top opportunities for innovation.
Relatively, ecosystem partners play a major role in helping clients modernize applications and migrate mission-critical workloads to the cloud. For example, the power and flexibility of an open, hybrid cloud portfolio coupled with a provider’s technology and deep industry expertise would bring open technology tools to the forefront for businesses worldwide, and help expedite their cloud journeys.
Working alongside cloud ecosystem partners, go-to-market strategists could also leverage a greater level of scale, resources and capabilities. SaaS providers like Nokia, PCCW Global and MYCOM OSI prevail within cloud ecosystems. They assist the cross-functional teams in constructing technology solutions.
Moreover, mutual relationships are integral to thriving ecosystems, and this is applicable to the cloud world as well. The best ecosystem partners use a “win-win” philosophy to guide their actions and focus on their commitments for maximum cloud-centric value.
To achieve the best in varying realms, it’s ideal to work with a set of CSPs and innovators strong on a broad catalog of criteria such as capabilities, reliability and security.
Industry Innovations
Recently, the AWS Region in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been opened with the API name “me-central-1”, enabling users to deploy workloads and store data locally. This is highly significant, as the country is among the most advanced economies that consume copious data and information on a daily basis.
This is also a testament in line with the Global Cloud Ecosystem Index 2022 which has put the UAE number one within the MENA region based on how well its technology, talent and regulatory system promote the availability of cloud services. Other GCC countries including Kuwait and Qatar follow closely on the list.
Migrating to the cloud is certainly the next logical step in enabling innovation and growth, with emerging technologies, such as blockchain, big data, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI), each empowered substantially via the cloud.
As they mature into large-scale deployment, cloud ecosystems, combined with the abovementioned technologies, grease the wheels of digital government, smart cities, financial tech, autonomous driving and modern retailing, to name a few. And heavily involved here are the countless application providers, developers and infrastructure vendors who persistently strive to succeed.
In this context – and by leveraging a collaborative ‘Connectivity + Computing + Cloud’ synergy – Huawei’s Hou Jinlong confirms that they are able to provide an “intelligent, automated and information-driven platform for partners’ content, applications and algorithms.”
Into the Cloud
Being well-informed on the potential of new technologies is crucial in manifesting the innovation and capabilities that cloud computing offers. Cloud services are a growth catalyst that technology leaders of today and tomorrow must continue to adopt. It may take more time and thorough planning to execute widely, but a bigger cloud ecosystem awaits – for the benefit of all players and for society at large.
