As today’s analytics landscape evolves with impressive velocity, organizations are hungry for solutions to eliminate barriers to moving to the cloud. While the arguments for digital transformation are clear, many organizations hesitate to take the final step and migrate their businesses.
It’s not hard to find supporting evidence on the growing importance of the cloud. According to a recent study by SAS, Accenture and Intel with Forbes Insights, the technological environment is on the precipice of a large-scale evolution, with emerging technologies like the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) continuing to gain momentum despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 500 executives surveyed in the report, AI Acceleration and the Future of Innovation, 76% claim they are already using the cloud in some fashion. SAS’ own global cloud revenue grew by 19% in 2021. While the benefits of moving to the cloud are clear, the path forward is not without obstacles. SAS, Accenture and Microsoft are leading the way in operationalizing analytics in the cloud to help businesses overcome some of the most prevalent obstacles, which include:
Obstacle 1: Lack of infrastructure
Migrating work to the cloud raises many questions. How, when and where can be intimidating to organizations looking to make a move. Partner organizations can help mitigate this stress by providing customers with answers to these questions, using their extensive infrastructures to make the transformation process run more smoothly. The cloud doesn’t just mean easier access – it also means resources preserved, time maximized and money saved. Organizations deploying SAS® Viya® on Microsoft Azure – SAS's preferred cloud provider – see benefits including a 204% return on investment, according to a new, commissioned Forrester TEI study.
Obstacle 2: Skills gaps
As employees learn new processes, many organizations look to experts for additional support, from implementation to technical management and everything in between. They can find this support from third-party enablers who already employ experts to aid in their transition. These experts can also assist in training the customers’ workforce to set them up for success in the cloud.
Obstacle 3: Daunting risk
Cloud transformation is an investment, and concerns around security and ROI can keep organizations from jumping to the cloud. When you’re trying something new, it’s almost always more accessible with the guidance of someone who has done it before.
This is where partners come in. SAS possesses a fully integrated, open-source, cloud-native technology platform; Microsoft has its own comprehensive cloud platform across Azure, M365, D365 and Power Platform; and Accenture runs a wide-reaching network of migration tools, methods and resources.
According to Brad Carlstedt, Global Director of Partner Development at Microsoft, “This is a novel opportunity for organizations to leverage the combined powers of SAS’ leading analytics, Accenture’s expertise in implementation and Microsoft Azure’s trusted cloud capabilities. Together, we can help customers across industries maximize the potential of the cloud and capitalize on the unique skills and solutions that SAS, Accenture and Microsoft bring to the table.”
