Or the importance of being earnest about AI and Cloud Strategy and Governance

The senior team of a large multinational I worked with, sat in a room disquieted by the realities of Cloud in their business. To attain competitive advantage, each arm of the business had developed their own strategy for Cloud. Now, the business needed the Cloud to work together, working with their own private cloud. But which strategy was the right one and how could they maintain their competitive advantage while integrating and moving the business forward? To be agile, creative and competitive, individual arms of the company need to move fast, but how can a large multinational govern this kind of multiple cloud reality?

Artificial Intelligence and Cloud computing are becoming as ubiquitous in our lives as the personal computer, smartphones, and devices, are now. Indeed anyone using smartphones and devices such as the iPad, Echo, or any device using Amazon, Apple, Google or Microsoft technology is already using artificial intelligence powered assistants like Alexa, Cortana, or Siri, and using cloud services to store their photographs, emails, documents, settings, and app data. 

Apps use cloud based application services seamlessly in the background to add information and services for you as you search for say restaurants or filling stations in the locality you are in. Your data is gathered by the plethora of services you use, whether for online shopping, information gathering, location services, payments, the music you stream, and all browsing you do (even incognito browsing merely reduces the amount of data you allow to be gathered about you but by no means all).

Cloud essentially comes in three flavours: Public, Private and Hybrid. Public cloud is the offering you get from Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Azure from Microsoft. Other major players in this space are Google, Oracle, and the major telecommunications providers. 

Public cloud offers your business a virtual space in a worldwide network of data centres providing your company with global services on a pay as you use model. You can tailor your use of the cloud to your requirements depending on the range of options available from the provider. 

Private cloud can use the same technologies as public cloud or a different mix of technologies determined by you. In this case you operate your own data centres (whether directly owned or leased data centre space) and are completely responsible for all costs. You can act as a cloud provider to your own organization and charge for the services on a pay as you go basis through internal charging mechanisms. 

Hybrid cloud is an approach that ideally uses the strengths of both public and private cloud in an architecture designed to optimally satisfy business requirements while retaining corporate control and ownership of applications and data. 

Many businesses find themselves in a hybrid model by default and without a strategy or governance policies in place. This situation can create significant risk to the organisation as a whole including fiscal, legal, regulatory, and technical, compliance with corporate policies and obligations, to name a few. 

Understanding how your business can benefit from AI and Cloud technology and services is an important undertaking. If you understand how these technology services can streamline your business operations, provide new business opportunities, and ultimately contribute positively to your success, then you can start to formulate a strategy to apply them to your business needs.

Today we are in a period of change and transition and Hybrid Cloud models are the most common approach in existing medium to large organizations. Small companies are grappling with what it all means and often wonder whether cloud can help them but are often concerned that although it sounds great, it could become a money pit if they do not understand how to use cloud optimally.

Artificial Intelligence is a more recent concern and is often offered as a library application service to cloud customers (especially by the large international providers) to use for their own purposes – but what to use, and how to use it, is often the problem. AI comes in many guises – among the most widely used are Expert Systems, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Neural Networks (Deep Learning uses new and specialized neural networks and can combine the capabilities of many techniques) and, depending on your business needs, may be a hybrid. 

Many companies and senior executives are unclear how to best use AI and Cloud services to further their own organizations competitivity and market success. Some remember the advent of the PC, the Internet boom, the explosion of smart devices, and the ensuing chaos as departments scrambled to make sure they were not left behind by their competitors. IT departments with all their controls and best practices were often ignored or viewed as gatekeepers stifling innovation. Often discretionary spending was used to gain short term advantage and a progressive public image.

The same trends are appearing again today. Many senior executives are concerned, and worried, about the implications for their business and the risks to their companies from unbridled creative license with AI and Cloud services. They know it is important they do not fall behind in the adoption of new and potentially game changing technology but they worry, and often justifiably, that much of the effort, resources, and budget, spent is not allocated optimally or in the best long term interests of the business.

The way to address this is for Senior management to engage in a concerted effort to formulate and establish an AI and Cloud strategy for the business and company as a whole. A well designed and communicated strategy provides a yardstick by which governance policies can be put into place to approve or decline the projects using AI and Cloud or either one. 

Among the major criteria to consider are what delivery models will be allowed, what cost metrics and pricing models need to be used, what service quality metrics and service level agreements  (SLAs) need to be put in place? All of these are essential to mitigate and manage the risks involved. Brainstorm with a facilitator who can guide you through the pitfalls and help you identify the risks and opportunities for your business. 

For the multinational I worked with, the path became clear – identify the business needs, define the requirements, and develop a hybrid strategy that utilizes the best of public and private approaches to best take advantage of each model. This allowed one coherent set of governance policies for multiple cloud initiatives across the entire corporation and enhanced strategic sustainability. 

This is not a one-size-fits-all undertaking despite what some vendors will imply. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell –

To lose out on one cloud initiative is unfortunate, but to lose out on two (or more) is carelessness.

Get it right and you will not only streamline how your company works, but also open new vistas of opportunity and success.

 

Tom Halton is a senior executive, independent advisor on Digital Innovation & Transformation, specialist in AI & Cloud strategy, security & sustainability, and self-styled C3PO (see the article titled “CIO? CTO? No, All Hail C3PO!”). With over 30 years experience at the cutting edge of technology innovation, and working with some of the most successful Tech companies in history, he now owns and runs the digital platform HMHmmmmm Ltd. (www.hmhmmmmm.com & www.tomhalton.com), where he advises, animates, makes movies, muses, writes blogs & articles, illustrates, and continues his adventures on the frontiers of a life bridging the Arts, Humanities, Science & Tech. 

Look out for his book, “C3PO, The Revolution At C-level” and HMHmmmmm’s animation series about a kitten with special talents – both coming soon!

© 2019 Tom Halton. All Rights Reserved.