Businesses continue to adopt cloud for agility, scalability and enable innovation. There is one significant change — businesses are choosing to manage multiple clouds to align diverse business needs with the unique capabilities of discreet cloud providers.  

The Cloud Evolution: Mandate to Modernize report reveals that 87% of respondents are currently engaged with more than one cloud provider, with the average organization collaborating with three. This strategic diversification across platforms by providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, Oracle, SAP, Red Hat and others is enabling companies to avoid vendor lock-in, optimize costs and enhance resiliency by leveraging multiple data centers across key geographic regions.

While multicloud provides many benefits, it also introduces complexity. In the same research, organizations link success to the selection of a transformation partner or Systems Integrator (SI). Choosing the appropriate Cloud Service Provider (CSP) is crucial for establishing the technical foundation and the role of a skilled SI is equally vital in ensuring that cloud initiatives achieve their intended outcomes. A CSP may supply the necessary tools and platforms, but it is the SI that expertly integrates these technologies into the broader technology and business strategy, ensuring that technology investments drive tangible business results.

Emerging technologies and the role of system integrators

The top reason for increasing investments in cloud is to have access to services and emerging technologies not available on-prem. Realizing the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) integration, advanced data analytics and generative AI (GenAI) present limitless opportunities for innovation along with new complexities. 

Choosing a transformation partner can accelerate how organizations align business priorities with available technology and platforms — strategically positioning cloud investments to drive long-term business success. Orchestrating multiple cloud service providers along with enterprise priorities for security, regulatory requirements and business objectives is the perfect scenario for a partnership with an experienced partner with engineering capabilities and industry insights. System Integrators minimize the risk of deploying new technologies and accelerate projects to ensure return on investment.

Consider the case of Unilever, a global provider of food, beauty products and personal care items. They embarked on an ambitious cloud transformation journey, with HCLTech spearheading the effort. Unilever chose a leading CSP as their application destination. Planning and executing the modernization of their application portfolio would provide transformative benefits. The project included the move to two cloud platforms: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure.

HCLTech's tailored approach, utilizing its innovative CloudSMART framework, enabled Unilever to enhance agility, security and customer service while streamlining processes and reducing its carbon footprint. This transformation was pivotal in aligning Unilever’s technology with its vision of sustainable business practices and faster product-to-market delivery.

Challenges and strategic considerations for selecting a transformation partner   

Organizations should carefully evaluate any provider’s security protocols, review SLAs thoroughly and consider multicloud strategies to avoid vendor lock-in. It’s beneficial to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and pilot test the provider’s services to ensure they meet the organization’s specific needs and performance expectations. Some of the criteria for selecting a transformation partner are: 

• Experience and expertise: The partner should have extensive experience in managing and executing similar projects and possess specialized knowledge relevant to the organization’s industry and technology needs. Expertise in emerging technologies and innovative practices is also vital
• Track record: A strong track record of successful projects and satisfied clients is a key indicator of a partner’s ability to deliver results. Reviewing case studies, client testimonials and performance metrics helps assess a partner’s effectiveness and reliability
• Cultural fit: Alignment of values and working styles between the organization and the transformation partner is crucial. A good cultural fit ensures smoother collaboration, better communication, and a cohesive approach to achieving business goals
• Technical capabilities: The partner should have the technical skills and resources necessary to handle the specific challenges of the transformation. This includes proficiency in relevant technologies and a robust approach to managing and mitigating risks
• Innovation and adaptability: The ability to provide innovative solutions and adapt to changing business needs is important. A partner that embraces new technologies and methodologies can help organizations stay ahead of the curve and drive continuous improvement

Choosing your transformation partner: Beyond the technology

The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT marked a significant shift in the AI landscape, making advanced AI accessible to millions and showcasing the potential of large language models (LLMs) across various tasks. This has fueled widespread interest and investment in GenAI, with many organizations planning projects to explore how GenAI can transform their business. However, realizing the potential requires more than just licensing the fundamental large language model (LLM). Each industry presents unique use cases for implementing GenAI. Selecting the LLM, training the LLM with proprietary data, making ethical decisions about the use of data and providing secure access to the data are critical to success.

Additionally, transformation partners optimize processes, identify inefficiencies, create re-engineering workflows and leverage technology to streamline operations which ultimately lead to significant cost reductions and productivity gains. This was especially true for Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest company and a major global dairy exporter. Their journey is a good example of the impact an effective transformation partner can have on outcomes. HCLTech led Fonterra’s cloud-first transformation with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) which required migrating legacy ERP systems and homegrown applications from on-prem data centers to cloud. This project resulted in a 30% performance boost and a 60% reduction in the meantime to recovery during crisis. The successful migration, enhanced performance and data security also enabled Fonterra’s IT team to concentrate more time on innovation and the adoption of emerging technologies. 

The synergy between cloud and transformation partners

While cloud partners provide the technical backbone for digital initiatives, transformation partners ensure these initiatives deliver tangible value. For example, a cloud partner may implement a cutting-edge cloud platform, but without a Transformation Partner, an organization might struggle with adapting its business processes or managing the cultural shifts necessary to fully leverage the new technology. 

Widespread cloud adoption reveals the critical role that cloud is playing in modern business operations. However, sometimes due to the absence of a workable plan and/or misalignment of cloud capabilities to business objectives, organizations may waste time and budget on a false start. When a firm aligns their business and technology strategy costly missteps are avoided and technology investments are optimized.

The future of cloud and transformation partnerships

As we look ahead, the relationship between cloud and transformation partners is set to undergo significant changes driven by advancements in technologies. According to HCLTech’s cloud research, 86% of organizations are turning to third parties to help them advance GenAI goals and to significant effect, highlighting the growing importance of aligning cloud infrastructure with innovative technologies.

Organizations should prepare for a future where agility and adaptability are critical and where the boundaries between cloud providers and transformation partners become increasingly seamless.