TECH & AI
A significant transformation is underway in how enterprises approach technology investments , with organisations moving beyond simplistic cloud adoption to more sophisticated strategies balancing cost , efficiency and environmental impact .
Technology Business Management ( TBM ) specialist Apptio stands at the forefront of this evolution , providing tools which combine granular cost visibility with sustainability metrics .
Speaking to FinTech Magazine from TBM conference 2024 , three Appptio executives , including Mallory Beaudreau , Account Management EMEA , share insights on organisations evolving approach to cloud adoption .
Apptio : Striking the balance in cloud migration “ This year , as organisations continue their cloud migrations , cost awareness has been a key consideration . This is a step forward from previous ‘ cloud first ’ policies , which in reality meant dumping data into the cloud to figure out later ,” Mallory explains .
This reactive approach has given way to more strategic thinking about which workloads belong in the cloud .
“ Now , our banking clients are moving from awareness into accountability . Their strategy is not cloud-first , it ’ s cloud smart ,” Mallory continues . “ They ’ re looking at the most appropriate application to migrate to the cloud because not everything is conducive to this pay-as-you-go model .”
For many organisations today , a hybrid environment is the working reality – with some applications migrating to the cloud while other workloads remain on-premise .
Indeed , when it comes to AI , Apptio finds its banking clients see these workloads as most optimal on-prem , to “ minimise big data transfers to the cloud ”, says Mallory .
“ If the data is on-prem , then AI applications can be built on-prem too , reducing both latency and operational costs ,” she continues .
So , while hybrid environments are beneficial , particularly for banks , they do present unique challenges .
Greg Holmes , Area VP of Solutions at Apptio , emphasises that organisations need new approaches to measurement and optimisation .
“ When organisations go and push things into the cloud without rethinking how they ’ re running them , not even going all the way to re-architecting or rebuilding , that ’ s when you see inefficiencies ,” he explains .
The skills challenge compounds this complexity . “ What if you ’ re a 25-yearold engineer ? You only know the cloud , and I ’ m asking you now to understand hybrid ,” Mallory notes . “ It ’ s neither good nor bad , it ’ s just another challenge . You need people who can code switch and translate between on-prem and cloud workloads .” fintechmagazine . com 73