Cloud Series: Organizational Structure

One of the more visible changes allowed by the cloud is organizational restructuring: both in office space alterations and departmental reconceptualization.

Remote Work Opportunities

While remote work for many individuals is no longer revolutionary as they continue to operate from home, with the cloud organizations can leverage remote work out of preference instead of necessity.

Notably, remote work systems can result in better recruitment and workplace morale. With full remote positions, companies can hire the best talent who may have previously been geographically unobtainable. Additionally, even when employees are local, they tend to prefer flexible work models; according to a Gallop poll, 51% percent of Americans, if given the choice, would prefer to continue to work remotely as much as possible even after COVID restrictions are lifted.  

Moreover, once industries can return to the office, companies can reinvent how they encourage collaborative work. For instance, a hybrid remote model could be adopted in which employees split their time remote and in-person. If employees do their individual work at home, the physical office building could be shrunk and or transformed to be more conductive for collaborative work: removing cubicles and offices in exchange for meeting rooms and work lounges.

Wholistic Shifts in IT Functionality

There is a common misconception that the cloud will be the death of IT departments across the board as cloud service providers replace the role of in-house IT for the maintenance of storage infrastructure and functionality. However, lateral jobs will be created, new IT projects will require attention, and many lingering IT tasks will remain.

Cloud transformation will create additional job positions for IT experts. Accenture recommends that when companies move to the cloud, they invest in alternative roles required for optimal performance, including cloud orchestration, persistence management, API management, and service portfolio management. Additionally, jobs will be created to actively manage and virtually integrate a company’s cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud approaches, such as service onboarding, account management, strategic vendor management, product management, multi-cloud architecture, and strategic planning. All of which will position a company to retain employment in a meaningful way that will improve corporate efficiency.

A cloud data management solution also provides a unique opportunity for companies to reimagine what IT departments are capable of. Existing models fixate on relics of the past, maintaining existing systems with custodial upkeep; however, with proper support, IT leaders can be the visionaries of tomorrow—prioritizing experimentation and innovation over data conservation. By transitioning parts of IT departments into DevOps or service teams, organizations can develop and integrate technological advancements (such as system optimizations, additional security measures, virtual footprint reduction, and customer-centered improvements) from conception to execution, unhindered by inter-departmental bureaucracy.

In terms of existing responsibilities, much of IT departments’ portfolios will remain after cloud transition. Notably, most existing organizations who switch to the cloud do so in a hybrid model, leaving a portion of their data on-premises. For IT departments that means there will be plenty of upkeep required to maintain existing servers and potentially new servers if the organization’s hybrid approach includes saving part of their incoming, typically sensitive, data via on-premises storage. Moreover, IT departments will have plenty of work with legacy systems if their organization chooses to either sunset them or update them to remain competitive in the modern workspace. Lastly, employees will still require user assistance, especially early on in a cloud transition, and IT departments can pave the way for company education on functionality, use, and security.

Follow the rest of ZL Tech’s cloud blog series for more insights on how cloud transformation will affect enterprises:

1. Introduction
2. Privacy and Security
3. Organizational Structure (this post)
4. Big Data Analytics

cloud cloud series IT on-premises remote work storage

A graduate from Kalamazoo College, Martin Hansknecht serves as a marketing associate for ZL Tech. He gets his Midwestern charm from growing up in the mitten of Michigan, his East Coast work ethic from his time spent in NY and D.C., and his European fashion from years living in England, Germany, and Hungary. Now he is looking forward to absorbing that innovative West Coast mindset!