Having the right talent is the key for businesses to compete in this modern technological driven environment, says Brahim Laaidi, a partner at Bain & Company based in their Middle East office. Laaidi, who works in technology and digital transformation with senior clients in industries including financial services, retail, telco and the public sector, expounds that businesses need to identify and retain talent while elaborating on regional challenges that big tech companies are facing.

Laaidi, who helps clients orchestrate company-wide transformation to achieve the next stage of digital and technology strategy, organization and talent, said, “With software and technology becoming mission-critical for businesses throughout the economy, CEOs in every industry are recognizing that their ability to compete comes down to one thing — having the right talent.”

Busting effectively the myths around cloud transformation, Laaidi, while speaking to Saudi Gazette, stated that cloud provides a break from the past, enables the rapid creation and removal of application environments and is based on modern technology and is inherently more stable than many legacy platforms used by enterprises today. Here are the excerpts:

Q. What are some of the myths around cloud transformation?

Cloud adoption is a complex undertaking and there are many ‘pitfalls’ that enterprises can encounter during their journey. However, through my interactions with some clients, we still come across misconceptions. Some of the most notable ones include:

Cloud is not secure: Nowadays, the cloud provides a ‘break from the past’ and a better way of protecting data when compared to ‘on-premise’

Cloud is expensive: the full potential is typically a 30-50% reduction in hosting run-rate costs, which can equate to tens of millions of dollars annually (for medium to large size enterprises). In addition, the benefits beyond cost reductions are important to consider in the business case

Cloud is less agile than ‘on-premise’: Cloud enables the rapid creation and removal of application environments. Developers can self-sustain as needed when cloud provisioning is combined with environment builds, significantly improving productivity

Cloud is less stable than ‘on-premise’: Cloud is based on modern technology and is inherently more stable than many legacy platforms used by enterprises today.

Although these myths are still persistent, the overall sentiment is currently shifting towards acceptance, with considerable improvement in GCC countries.

See more on Saudi Gazette.