For many Australian organisations, the cloud migration box is ticked. Infrastructure has moved, costs have shifted from capital to operating expenditure and the organisation runs largely on cloud platforms. Too often, that’s where progress stalls.
Existing systems move to the cloud, bringing their inefficiencies with them. Over time, people start working around increasingly complex technology. “It’s almost the case where a business is aligning its operations to the technology instead of the other way around,” says Josh Sampson, Solutions Architect at Nexon.
When the tail starts wagging the dog
The pattern is easy to miss because it happens gradually. Data gets trapped in silos while staff develop workarounds because “that’s how the system works.” Security policies vary by platform and decisions get made based on educated guesses.
“The tipping point we see is when technology becomes the blocker to enabling the business,” says Elliot Jurd, General Manager Cloud at Nexon. “We see this commonly across mid-market organisations, and the longer it continues, the harder it becomes to change course.”
Cloud migration can shift commercial models from CapEx to OpEx and create meaningful operational efficiencies, but it doesn’t drive innovation or sustainable competitive advantage on its own. For that, organisations need to move beyond migration toward genuine transformation.
Epilepsy Foundation unites six states on one platform
When the Epilepsy Foundation set out to unite into a national network, they faced a significant challenge: disparate systems across each state limited consistent support and service delivery for Australians living with epilepsy.
Working with Nexon, they consolidated onto a unified Microsoft platform – SharePoint and OneDrive for documents, Teams for collaboration and telephony and Dynamics 365 for client management, with security built in end-to-end.
“We didn’t just implement new software. It was about changing how we work as an organisation to better serve our community,” says Sharmila Lakshmanan, the Foundation’s CIO.
Staff can now provide continuity of care across state borders, with client information instantly accessible anywhere in the country. If a client moves interstate or needs support while travelling, their information follows them. Financial reporting that once took six weeks now takes two.
Ord Minnett builds a platform for generational wealth management
Ord Minnett, a financial services firm, took a similar approach when acquiring multiple businesses. Rather than simply connecting systems, they rapidly standardised the operations of each acquisition. Being APRA-regulated meant compliance couldn’t slip, but they also couldn’t afford years-long integration timelines dragging on in the background.
The right cloud for the right workload
Genuine transformation starts with business questions. Which challenges can be solved by technology? What opportunities is the current setup missing? Where have manual workarounds become standard practice?
From there, the answer isn’t always to move everything to public cloud. A legacy platform that performs a crucial task but won’t be a source of innovation may be better suited to private cloud. Core business operations like CRM, ERP or financial management might benefit from software-as-a-service, removing infrastructure burden altogether.
What matters most is integration – infrastructure, applications, communications, security and data operating as a connected ecosystem, with information flowing where it’s needed.
Make the most of what you have
For most organisations, the foundations are usually already in place, and they don’t need to start again. They need a clear assessment of whether their current environment is set up for where the business needs to go – and a roadmap to automate workflows and consolidate data to make the most of AI’s potential.
“It’s not about chasing the latest tech,” says Jurd. “It’s about using what you have well – and knowing when to evolve.”
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, Nexon helps organisations get more from their existing Microsoft investments, from M365 and Azure through to Copilot and Dynamics 365.
Watch
Getting ahead of the tech
Nexon’s experts explore how Australian organisations are moving beyond migration to genuine transformation – and what leaders need to consider as AI reshapes the technology landscape.
For a no-obligation discussion about our end-to-end managed services contact Nexon today.
Elliot Jurd is General Manager Cloud at Nexon Asia Pacific
Josh Sampson is Solutions Architect at Nexon Asia Pacific
More articles to explore
