Added Business Value with the Cloud
Why go Cloud?
Stakeholders participating in the global supply chain have had to bear the impacts of the pandemic. The decision to migrate your TOS into the cloud can be motivated by various factors ranging from political to socioeconomic.
What are the dangers of poor planning?
ADDED BUSINESS VALUE WITH THE CLOUD
Without the assistance of cloud technologies, the world would confront an array of challenges. Remote system access and video conferencing capabilities have allowed most white-collar workers to work from home – a massive advantage considering its absence would cause a disruption of a magnitude not emerged since the Great Depression. However, individuals working in service industries like shipping and terminals without a cloud infrastructure, are at the forefront bearing economic impacts simply because the option to operate remotely is not available for their nature of work.
The on-premise approach wholly applied to all operational types are transforming to introduce more flexible practices. Cloud-native TOS’ have supplied terminals an alternative route to continue conducting business and operations during these unprecedented times. The series of events unfolding since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, has forced port authorities to deal with unfamiliar situations beyond their knowledge. More than ever, the ability to respond dynamically and swiftly is one of the most valuable capabilities to foster – and this is made possible with the cloud.
Managing operations in uncontrolled conditions have been incredibly tricky, especially with many cities experiencing new outbreaks. The virus resurgence has made it incredibly difficult for port authorities to navigate or even apply traditional practices to current operations. As a result, there is a new appreciation for a pure cloud TOS as it offers core values of speed, scalability, access, and flexibility – the necessary components of implementing a reliable foundation that responds dynamically and efficiently to changes.
Cloud technology has created opportunities for all industries, supporting individuals who opt to work from home and reduce costs from scaling infrastructure down or up to match changes in requirements. Other business value-added from integrating cloud practices into terminal operations include:
There are many more benefits that arise from choosing the cloud. To read more on what else a true Cloud TOS can offer click here…
WHY GO CLOUD?
Remote work
The race to control the impacts ensued from the global pandemic has encouraged many industry experts, IT managers, and terminal operators to broaden their business model and adopt innovative technologies. Many ports and terminals across the globe acted nimbly and even transformed their business models overnight to ensure they complied with new government reforms enforcing physical distancing and strict hygiene practices. These new arrangements were quickly adapted by those that already had inherited a native cloud TOS architecture as they were able to employ remote-working arrangements immediately.
Responds well to contingencies
Conventional TOS systems employed pre-pandemic are now likely inefficient since its constructs cannot scale to changing container volumes or operate beyond its scope, and as a result, respond poorly to these extraordinary times. Current TOS system infrastructures must, instead, evolve to be dynamic and responsive in a continually changing environment. A cloud solution grants heightened accessibility and scale IT resources to lower costs – components which are critical to business continuity. In a world where the future is uncertain, the cloud is a flexible framework that prepares ports and terminals to respond to contingencies.
Heightened visibility over processes and operations
The momentum for change may yield from government bodies encouraging autonomy, increased visibility, and access to information that will assist in decision-making for the economy. Terminal operators may also want to leverage better control over their operations, determine if their input generates an output that meets strategic goals.
Introducing a TOS will ensure stability in reliable monitoring and reporting. Though moving its infrastructure into the cloud will offer maximum visibility as the TOS workspace can be accessed from virtually anywhere in the world. As the global economy impends a collapse, ports and terminals cannot afford to make mistakes. Therefore, with a Cloud-native TOS, data will be delivered on a real-time basis which is vital for effective decision-making.
Optimize resources and streamline workloads
The impacts of blanked sailings generating container clogs at warehouses are finally moving. However, the sudden influx of containers is posing several operational challenges, such as the limited financial resources available to allocate staff and equipment efficiently in the limited terminal yard space. As a result, ports are bearing significant pressures to work around the clock to sustain a continued supply chain, straining its chances of achieving optimization.
A terminal may decide to adopt a cloud TOS with optimization capabilities to render the opportunities of detecting bottlenecks early and streamlining processes and operations. Subsequently, this will not only cut costs but reduce the amount of time invested in mending the issue and ensure it does not evolve or stretch beyond control. In the new era post-pandemic, cost optimization combined with the cloud, will be crucial.
Easily integrate future innovations and gage better opportunities
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is the lesson that things learnt today can be outdated and inapplicable tomorrow. Therefore, adopting a business model that is both dynamic and reactive will demonstrate agility, which is integral in preparing for now and in the future. Evoking all these attributes, a true Cloud TOS serves as a foundation that easily integrates innovations and is accommodating to contingencies. A pure Cloud TOS is modular, and therefore, leverage better opportunities such as AI and automation without compromising performance or quality of speed.
WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF POOR PLANNING?
Cloud computing, renowned for its flexibility, reliability, and security, has been a significant driver of supply chain continuity. By offering a Software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for ports and terminals to continue planning and control activities from virtually anywhere, allows operators to continue to service their customers. However, few ports and terminals have misunderstood the purpose of the cloud and unnecessarily overcomplicated their strategy, which results in a considerable loss in investment. These common mistakes fail to deliver cloud benefits and directly derive from employing a “lift-and-shift” strategy, which consequently prevents ports and terminals from harnessing the full potential power of the cloud.
Migrating an entire system to the cloud without reconfiguring or retrofitting the system architecture will strip TOS operators from achieving the cloud benefits. This “lift-and-shift” approach is quite widespread with company’s employing virtual machines and hardware via an Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to run legacy systems. Not only is this cost-intensive and performance hindering, but it defeats the whole purpose of going cloud as using virtual machines on an IaaS do not develop any native-cloud advantages. Gartner’s recent survey proposes by 2024, nearly all legacy applications powered on an IaaS will need optimization to be more cost-efficient. Therefore, terminal operators must distinguish between a true cloud TOS and a forged one, to experience all the benefits going cloud has to offer.
Overcomplicating cloud strategies have contended with a display of results. The exaggerated fear about security of clouds has encouraged port authorities to veer towards a multi-cloud approach to lessen the possibility of vendor lock-in and supposedly strengthen their security procedures. However, companies are underutilizing the cloud, spending inappropriately, and not harnessing the opportunities of the cloud in its entirety. Consequently, an estimated 95% of customers will fail at their cloud investments through 2020, highlighting the dangers of implementing an inappropriate cloud model. There is also an underlying uncertainty about how two different systems will behave which may relay an impact on performance, causing inconsistencies between operations to arise. The stark differences between system architectures may be incompatible and loosely coupled, exposing a vulnerable system to a variety of security risks – an even bigger problem than to begin with.
Overview
The immense pressures of maintaining supply chain continuity during this global pandemic highlights poor planning as the demise of ports and terminals. A TOS solution truly in the cloud grants the power to scale resources which match current IT requirements, cost-optimize following a pay-per-TEU model and protect sensitive data with strict security enforcements. It is within the leading project manager or person of authority’s duty to conduct thorough analysis to determine the best-fit cloud TOS because the cloud should be rewarding you with opportunities. A true cloud native solution achieves flexibility and should not incur additional spending.