AS cloud technology is adopted globally by many countries because of the value it brings to the table, a lot of companies here in the Philippines are still at the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to cloud migration.
According to Jonathan Que, eCloudvalley Technology (ECV) Country Manager, the country is not even close to the cloud adoption level of the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) or even Australia. “A lot of the hesitancy is due to their knowledge of what the cloud really is, or even lack of information.”
This was Que’s assessment during a virtual interview with ECV and select members of the media.
In response to questions by FrontpagePH.com with regard to cloud hesitancy, Que cited a recent talk he did with students of a university, where the common perception was that there is a huge scarcity of cloud resources, even talent or people who are knowledgeable about the cloud.
“Good thing about the talk is that the school wanted to be more educated about what the cloud really is, and the reception was really good. After the session, there were so many questions from the over 100 attendees. The job is really to evangelize about the cloud, and the more you know about it, the more you are pulled towards it,” Que explained.
“After spending years selling hardware, that’s when I discovered that the cloud can really give a lot of value to customers. That value is what wakes me up, me and my team, every day,” he added.
In terms of sectors still hesitant in going to the cloud, Que said it really depends on the structure of the organization. Like for conglomerates, he said, with its very complex setup, with so many subsidiaries that act on their own, where each has its own IT or procurement department.
He said the hard part is that should the migration be done as a whole or per individual companies. Que pointed out that there’s a lot of discussions involved and decision-making takes too long mainly because the company setup is complex.
He averred that there are some companies that are more open than others, but there are some that are super traditional, whose mindset is more of what will happen to their investment in physical servers if they go to the cloud? Some think that if they can’t see it, it’s hard to imagine if they actually have it.
In terms of which is more hesitant to go to the cloud, whether enterprise or SMEs, it’s really a mix, he said. Probably half among the enterprise, he emphasized, and it may also be the same for SMEs. “It really depends on what you have, and on how we, as cloud service vendors or as partners, reach out to customers and tell them what the value of the cloud really is. For me, that’s the gap. I have zero doubt that when the customers understand the real value of the cloud, it’s going to be a no-brainer.”
As for the future of the cloud, Que believes that even this year with the pandemic, majority in their pipeline is migration. “Last year, if 65 percent of our business was that, probably this year it’s going to be more because every year, the Philippines becomes more mature with their understanding of technology. So, the more that they mature, the more that they will go for the cloud. In my opinion, it’s inevitable going to the cloud because the value is truly there; it’s not some fad that’s gone in one or two years.”
He also said that the government, just like the private sector, is definitely moving into the cloud at one time or another, but it’s really just a matter of when. He also sees a rosy business for the cloud service providers, and if there’s a silver lining to the pandemic, Que said the pandemic may have helped bring out that interest in the cloud.
“As I mentioned earlier, like for ECV, we grew 153 percent. I’d like to say that the pandemic brought that out. It really changed 100 percent the way people do things, and it will never go back to what it was before. It will never go back to that same setup, and that’s where the cloud’s power is,” Que intimated.
Que also announced that for the second year in a row, ECV has been awarded Amazon Web Services (AWS) “Consulting Partner of the Year” in recognition of its leadership in accelerating customer adoption of cloud technology and driving digital transformation in the Philippines.
In 2020, ECV received the same honor for ASEAN, while this year, the award was given for the company’s work in the Philippines.
As one of the select AWS Premier Consulting Partners in the Philippines, ECV has led significant transformation initiatives with some of the country’s digital pioneers. This includes Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP), which opened its first fully-digital bank in 2019 and is currently serving its customers purely through mobile applications.
Another customer is National Bookstore where according to Alexandra Ramos-Padilla, Managing Director, ECV was instrumental in helping them migrate their ERP and other systems to AWS within six months and on time despite the pandemic. This helped them improve their system performance by 20 percent, and even realized cost savings. “Since then, they have been a proactive partner in optimizing our systems on AWS in terms of cost and performance,” Padilla said.
With the company’s track record in growth and customer success, ECV continues to strengthen its capabilities in customizing their services for Philippine companies. A key focus area is Next Generation Managed Services where ECV works with customers such as Jollibee Foods Corporation to properly manage their AWS environment and empowers them to do it themselves in the future.
“The pandemic has shifted executive mindsets to be more open to change driven by technology, but Philippine companies still need significant support in navigating what can be a complex digital transformation,” said Que. “We aim to simplify the technology for our customers so that they can focus on the success and growth of their businesses.”