Management theories and practices frequently emerge as a result of new technological opportunities. Interchangeable parts sparked ideas for assembly line layout and logistics. Mainframe computing enabled the complex calculations required by the field of Operations Research. Client-server technology spawned enterprise resource planning systems, as well as the system-wide visibility required for business process management (BPM).
As a result, it is critical to consider how the most influential information technology of our time, cloud computing, will affect management. What does it give us the ability to do differently, and how will this affect how we do things in the future?
The large-scale analysis of Operations Research reflected painstaking data collection around a few metrics, which were transferred to punch cards, according to history. BPM reflected the interactions of various stakeholders, from product creation to final assembly.
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION
With the cloud, information travels quickly in both directions across computing systems that are far more flexible, thanks to features like virtualization, scaling up or down to handle larger workloads, or automated security patching across thousands of machines. This will almost certainly imply a more flexible work structure in the interest of products and services that can be adjusted to anticipate customer needs. Rapid data collection and analysis, followed by over-the-air changes to product software, are critical components of the new system.
Changes in product design are likely as a result of the cloud transition; closer collaboration between the corporate IT department and other business units, such as sales, finance, and forecasting; and increased customer interaction, even to the point of jointly developing products with their customers. New ways of writing and deploying software, in particular, will encourage new types of faster-acting organisational designs. And the best way to predict how these changes will be implemented is to hear from companies that are already aggressively implementing them.
WHAT IMPACT IT HAS ON PRODUCT DESIGN AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
However, as cloud technology advances, it becomes easier for businesses to create products and services in the cloud, or to model new products or marketing campaigns as cloud-based software prototypes. The cloud is also a common repository for new data collection and analysis, as well as a location for an increasing number of artificial intelligence operations such as image and speech recognition.
The evidence is already there, as startups increasingly think of their products and services as primarily software-centric entities from which data is constantly extracted. Changes and upgrades become a part of the ongoing process. As processes become more iterative, organisational functions become more muddled.
ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE “CLOUD NATIVE”
The way software is designed for cloud computing may end up being as important as the physical infrastructure of the cloud (which is millions of computer servers dispersed around the globe, connected by high-speed fibre optic lines.)
“Cloud native” software approaches emphasise ease of use and low-impact modification of any given software application’s components. Massive applications are divided into “microservices” that can be changed with little impact on a running piece of software.
Traditional complex software frequently has a series of dependencies with other lines of code, necessitating large rewrites for even minor changes. Consider how a plant’s roots can spread over a large area and intermix with other roots. The dependencies are potted by orchestrating microservices into highly portable units known as containers.
That is, an application can be deployed and managed globally from a single location with minimal effort. Kubernetes, the most popular open source software for orchestrating such container usage, was originally developed within Google to run the company’s many global applications, as well as to easily change products and issue software fixes at the greatest possible scale.
So get your cloud computing services now by contacting IT service providers.