Allen Crane: How to Successfully Migrate Your Company to the Cloud

The best way for companies to provide premium experiences to their
customers is a cloud-enabled platform, argues USAA Assistant Vice
President and Head of Information Management for P&C Allen
Crane in this week’s podcast

USAA Assistant Vice President and Head of Information Management
for P&C Allen Crane has a simple message for those companies
yet to begin their cloud transformation journey. Start now.


The USAA built their cloud infrastructure from the ground up to
provide services with the ‘wow’ factor, as Crane explains in this
week’s episode of the Business of Data podcast.


However, cloud transformation initiatives are complex,
challenging and require careful planning. A process that Crane
compares to a pilot building an aeroplane in flight.


“We’re building a new plane in the sky that has to fly higher and
faster than the one we’re already in,” Crane says. “And once we
get that other plane flying, we have got to get all of the
passengers off this plane and onto the new plane while it’s still
in the air.”


In addition, Crane says, it is essential to obtain the support of
senior leadership for such a long and complex transition to be a
success.


“The most important thing in my mind is that the support starts
at the top,” Crane says. “If you don’t have that level of support
from the top you really won’t be successful.  You can’t do
something at this scale at the grass-roots level.”


Companies must be able to provide their customers with premium
experiences to remain competitive, argues Crane. Cloud
transformation is an essential first step to achieving this.


“The world is moving to the cloud. Your user experiences will be
enabled by the cloud. Machine learning and AI and all of that
will be dependent on the cloud to deliver the kind of
expectations that you want to deliver for you customers,”
emphasizes Crane. “The sooner you get there the better off you
will be.”
Key Takeaways


Plan the transition carefully. Migration to
the cloud requires a retooling of the foundations of your data
infrastructure


Win the support of senior leadership. Long and
complex cloud transformation initiatives require the support of
those at the top to be a success


Get started early. The sooner your company
starts the cloud transformation journey, the sooner your
customers will reap the benefits