{"id":10306,"date":"2021-11-30T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=10306"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:31:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:31:02","slug":"cloud-technology-buy-in-csuite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/cloud-technology-buy-in-csuite\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving to cloud technology: How to get buy-in from the C-suite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Susie\t\t\t\tSusie Carter<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As a manufacturer, you probably know the benefits of your business moving operations to the cloud \u2013 streamlining back office functions, and maximising production and product development to gain a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, it’s a no-brainer. Yet manufacturers often struggle to persuade their senior leadership team to invest in switching manual processes and legacy software for cloud technology platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many execs have been burned in the past by failed IT transformation projects, which can carry a high cost in terms of capital expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with a choice of cloud technology solutions \u2013 which can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your business \u2013 many of those risks have been ‘designed out’ for manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to find out how you can persuade your senior management team to invest in a cloud strategy to accelerate your business growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s what we cover:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge of convincing the leadership team<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to build a business case<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementing change on a small scale<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key performance indicators to consider<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further roll-out of cloud technology<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communicating results to the leadership team<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final thoughts on moving to cloud tech<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free copy of The future of manufacturing<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The challenge of convincing the leadership team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, the quickest way to persuade leaders to make investments is by highlighting potential financial savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, that’s a risky strategy with cloud transformation projects<\/a>, because in the first five years, you may not be able to deliver any significant cost reductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may even see costs go up initially as you start migrating systems, training employees, learning lessons and re-configuring your solutions to work in the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other execs may fear potential business disruption, data loss, security issues and internal resource tied up on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s vital you address all these concerns early on, by positioning the adoption of cloud technology as a long-term strategy, rather than a short-term gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reassure leaders, adopt a robust project planning approach. And make sure you report regularly on results and insights to maximise transparency and communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to build a business case<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to developing a business case for making the move to cloud technology, it’s best to focus on four main benefits: agility, efficiency, business growth and future proofing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We go into more detail on this below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your business or organisation will be able to move faster, do more and, most importantly, outperform your competition by being in the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficiency<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can save time and money by outsourcing the management of data centres, and associated routine IT maintenance work, such as support, patching and configuration to a third party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means your IT team can save hundreds of hours per year on server configuration time alone, with a new focus on value-add activity without needing to increase headcount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running on a cloud platform could save your team time as well as adding flexibility and potential. The net result is that without needing to increase headcount, your team will be able to do more that directly benefits the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Grow your business by freeing up time spent on manual, repetitive, low-value transactions to refocus on operational efficiencies, competitive differentiation and implementing new technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and machine learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You run a manufacturing business, not a cloud computing company. It makes sense to focus on what you do best, while using cloud technology to ensure you run things more efficiently (alongside other benefits).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once such example might be to adopt business management software that runs in the cloud<\/a>, so you can manage the likes of your supply chain<\/a> and finances effectively no matter where you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, AWS and Microsoft, for example, build infrastructure platforms, manage database engines, and application platforms that enable businesses to write code, deploy it and start feeling benefits immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future proofing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Businesses traditionally buy infrastructure as a capital cost, which is written off over time. This brings pressure to make the right decision on significant spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, cloud technology services are paid for as a subscription, or operating cost. This gives you freedom to change your mind, and achieve a level of agility \u2013 beyond competitors who may be lagging due to a restrictive strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, manufacturers had to buy as much computer power as they’d need on their busiest day. But when working with major cloud providers, you only pay for the data you use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global brands scale capacity automatically to cope with any additional load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free copy of The future of manufacturing<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Implementing change on a small scale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In terms of delivery, it makes sense to pilot your move to the cloud with an aspect of business that is important but not critical. This way, you can achieve early success stories and momentum, while establishing team communications, issues resolution and processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a framework in place, you can apply experience \u2013 and iterate the process \u2013 across more strategic aspects of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s often best to leave more complicated, older products and legacy software pieces until later because they’re trickier to get on to the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key performance indicators to consider<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As one of the world’s largest providers of cloud services, AWS offers a lot of free advice around best practices<\/a> for designing and running workloads in the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s devised a five-point guide to measure how well your architecture aligns with cloud best practice. These are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n