To cloud or not to cloud is no longer the question – The question is how much value your Cloud is generating

The conversation surrounding cloud adoption has taken several different forms in the last few years. We’ve moved seamlessly through the stages of ‘you should adopt’ to ‘should I adopt?’ to ‘I plan to adopt’ and now we appear to be sitting at the table discussing which cloud environment is the right one for your business.

There’s a great sense of willingness in the enterprise today to adopt a cloud strategy – it’s finally announcing itself as standard practice. But like all new tech journeys, it’s taken some industry pioneers to light the way in order for us to have made it here.

One such industry is the world of sports – from a team, fan and broadcast perspective. Thankfully, if you can’t relate to the jargon of the enterprise world, it’s likely you can relate to sports. And it’s industries like this that help us tell the story of cloud.

From a performance point of view, sports teams around the world have been employing the use of cloud-run mobile technologies in order to gain better insights on themselves and their opponents. By using real-time analytics, harvesting data being fed to them during live match scenarios, coaches and managers have been able to tweak and adjust tactics to positively impact games while they’re in play.

During the build-up to last year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil, winners Germany used intelligent analytics in training to learn as much about their performance as possible. By collecting data from sensors and cameras dotted around the pitch, they were able to pinpoint the best possible positions each player should be taking up dependent on their pace and agility, how much time they were taking on the ball and where best to distribute it in order to reduce time spent in possession.

The analytics helped the Germans to reduce their average ball possession per player from 3.4 seconds to 1.1 seconds. This was demonstrated during the semi-final when they obliterated hosts Brazil 7-1, scoring three of the goals in just 179 seconds.

For the fans, the results have been exciting, too. Stadiums have been able to deploy cloud-based apps that allow fans to interact with the game as it happens, receiving up-to-the-second insights and statistics from the game. This has been a crucial business move for certain teams, especially in the NFL in the United States where teams have been suffering season ticket renewal declines. These teams have been using big data analytics to offer a richer fan experience.

Many stadiums have now installed excellent Wi-Fi networks that stretch across the entire venue with the scalability – thanks to the cloud – to expand and retract during the peaks and troughs of the season. For example, higher bandwidth is available during game days, keeping fans connected to social media and game statistics from within the stadium so they can enjoy the same insights as when they’re at home. It’s the perfect incentive to keep people coming to enjoy live sports.

Similar for the broadcast industry, the insights and statistics on the pitch, as well as those around the stadium, means they can offer truly valuable information for fans around the world.

Of course, this example is just one of many that show where the right cloud choices can help benefit your business. During your journey to cloud, it’s important to clearly identify what your business objectives and needs are before you make choices.

New mobile applications are enabling front-line decision making, and insight-driven processes are being created from non-traditional data sources. New innovations are being composed from a broad ecosystem of digital services, and fueled by cloud, these forces of change are empowering organizations to blaze their own technology trails, create new business opportunities and drive customer engagement.

Now, you might ask yourself “What does Germany winning the soccer world championship has to do with me running my business?” – The answer is “Everything”. Many business leaders and entrepreneurs most likely asked a very similar question about 15 years ago when the Internet evolved into a new commercial channel. Today it is not about ‘being connected’ … it is about ‘being connected intelligently’ – that’s what the Internet of Things (IoT)is all about: Collecting the right kind of data is one thing, generating real measurable value from it is a totally different story (i.e. selling more soccer tickets or actually winning the championship). So what does this soccer example tell us all.

The Author of this article – Nick Nesbitt is the General Manager,IBM East Africa.