Cloud technologies are one of the biggest drivers of digital innovations in the past decade and offer tremendous opportunities for the health and life sciences industry. However, caution is necessary when implementing cloud technologies, as the wrong implementation can hinder step changes in cost-efficiency, time-to-market, and new business models. To overcome this challenge, the Cloud Roundtable aims to bring together cross-discipline expertise and explore the advantages and limitations of cloud technologies.
The benefits of cloud computing are many. For example, it requires much less time to develop than a new global energy portfolio and will deliver value faster. In addition, cloud computing has tremendous potential to reduce energy demand, travel expenses, and wasted commercial real estate. As cloud-based technologies evolve, all of our hardware appliances will eventually be cloud-tethered.
Healthcare is a sector that has been at the forefront of the cloud revolution. The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed health systems around the world, requiring fast, flexible systems to respond to the emergency. In addition, cloud technologies allow for rapid compliance with government regulations without significant upfront capital. These benefits make cloud-based platforms ideal for the health tech sector and are especially advantageous for start-up companies that do not have the capital to invest in a traditional data center.
In addition to these benefits, cloud services can also enhance productivity and customer satisfaction in organizations. Moreover, the increased use of cloud services also allows organizations to increase their revenue streams and diversify their business strategies. Huawei’s Cloud Platform, for example, enables customers to build new business models and revenue streams through IoT-as-a-Service and Video Cloud hosting services.
Health care IT professionals need to broaden their skills to cope with the demands of cloud-based services. For example, IT administrators need to develop new skills to collect telemetry data from remote services, consolidate data from multiple sources, and perform analysis. Scripting languages like Python will also be needed for these roles. As cloud-based services evolve, the traditional role of the IT operations manager will diminish. Some traditional roles will continue as they are, while others will become more automated.