Although cloud computing has enormous potential, most businesses are simply scratching the surface. Recent study reveals where the value is hidden—and how to seize it before your competitors do.
To produce “software for life,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel decided to build his mRNA research-and-development platform on the public cloud.
He used the cloud to speed up the discovery and development of new therapeutics. This method proved to be insightful when the COVID-19 epidemic struck. The company was well-positioned to construct research tests quickly and to take advantage of its automated laboratory and production processes, as well as its improved drug-discovery pipeline.
Cloud as Success Factore for Moderna
Moderna’s unique web tool, Drug Generate Studio, is hosted on the cloud and uses the cloud’s scalable compute and storage infrastructure to evaluate and design mRNA sequences for protein targets. Scientists and engineers also employ fully managed cloud data-warehousing services to combine results from several simultaneous tests and refine the design and production cycle swiftly. Furthermore, cloud principles such as infrastructure as code (IaC) and security as code assisted in automating good-practice (GxP) compliance processes, allowing the company to move swiftly while remaining secure and compliant. Moderna was able to deliver the first clinical batch of their vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) to the US National Institute of Health for phase one trials just 42 days after the virus was initially sequenced, thanks in part to cloud technology. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you just fly,” Bancel explained.
More businesses are beginning to recognize the true value of cloud, which has long been hailed as a catalyst for innovation and digital transformation due to its capacity to accelerate development and give near-infinite scale. Moderna’s success exemplifies the commercial prospects made accessible by cloud computing, yet it just scratches the surface of the potential value at stake. According to a detailed analysis of cloud cost-optimization levers and value-oriented business use cases, Fortune 500 companies will have more than $1 trillion in run-rate EBITDA available in 2030 (see sidebar, “About the research”), a figure that will rise as cloud enables the adoption of emerging technologies like augmented reality and blockchain. This $1 trillion figure is more of an estimate of what could be achieved if organisations pursue the cloud potential aggressively—as well as a call to action, because early adopters will reap a disproportionate share of the total value.
The creation of this massive value pool occurs at a time when enterprises are under increasing competitive pressure. Fast-moving digital players are transforming the commercial landscape and speeding up change. For CEOs, cloud adoption is more than just a means of increasing revenue and efficiency. Its advantages in terms of speed, size, creativity, and productivity are critical in the pursuit of broader digital business prospects, both now and in the future. However, a too narrow perspective of cloud-value economics and where value occurs frequently prevents businesses from accomplishing their objectives.
The good news is that numerous businesses in a variety of industries have successfully used public cloud and seen amazing outcomes. These businesses adhere to three best practices. They begin by implementing a clearly-defined, value-oriented strategy across IT and business units, as well as a cloud-ready operating architecture. Second, they gain direct cloud experience and adopt a lot more technologically advanced perspective than their colleagues. Finally, they thrive in training employees to be cloud-savvy
