Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 78 | Page 38

CIO OPINION
Multi-cloud has emerged as one of the most effective ways for organisations around the globe to sharpen their competitive edge .
Jason Conyard , Chief Information Officer , VMware

CIOs need to play dual roles of offense and defence

It is not enough for CIOs to just enable the business and it is incumbent on them to mitigate spiralling costs by adopting multi-cloud and cutting off legacy systems , explains Jason Conyard at VMware .

In today ’ s uncertain economic environment , business leaders are looking to CIOs more than ever before , to accelerate key priorities while hitting aggressive financial targets . This often means charging ahead with digital initiatives that set us up for future success , while simultaneously lowering costs and optimising for efficiency . If it sounds like these priorities are often in conflict , you are not wrong .

Over the past few years , multi-cloud has emerged as one of the most effective ways for organisations around the globe to sharpen their competitive edge . Recent research commissioned by VMware found that nearly all , 95 % organisations believe multi-cloud architectures are critical for business success .
However , several years into the multi-cloud journey , organisations are starting to see the financial and operational costs of moving fast across multiple clouds . According to the same study , 76 % of multi-cloud organisations reported a need to improve control over their cloud expenses .
It is not enough to just enable the business ; it is incumbent on the CIO to also mitigate spiralling costs . Simply said , as macroeconomic concerns rise , CIOs must play both offense and defence .
Here are three ways we can be playing both sides of the field .
38 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com