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“Digital transformation” and “cloud adoption” have been buzzwords for the business world for the last few years. From enterprise-level organizations to small and medium businesses, it appears that every business is moving operations to the cloud and pivoting to adopt online productivity and collaboration services as they move forward.

The notion of network-based computing dates back to the 1960s, but many believe that the first use of cloud computing in its modern context occurred on August 9, 2006, when then Google CEO Eric Schmid introduced the term to an industry conference. Despite having been around for such a long time, the digital migration across industries was slow until the onset of the global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The necessity of adopting remote working amid lockdown measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus came along in 2020 to instill a reality check for organizations of all levels. Many businesses found themselves forced to make rapid changes in how they operate due to the survival challenges they faced, while some industries like hospitality and travel became completely stumped by the pandemic.  

Businesses in the Energy and Commodities sectors have, for the longest time, been in-office operations that found themselves forced to switch “on a dime” to adopt a remote working environment.

Traditionally, these businesses are resistant to change. The global health crisis and ensuing lockdowns resulted in this resistance to change made way for fast-tracking several digital and cloud innovations for the front- and back-office operations and to meet changing consumer demands and expectations.

Adopting cloud computing solutions was generally slower, but the advantages it brings were already clear. Cloud computing is creating new levels of productivity, growth, and sustainability. In a matter of months, the slow process of digitization and cloud adoption that have been forming over the years has turned into a relentless torrent of adopting innovative solutions made possible by cloud computing.

According to a recent Bloomberg NEF report, cloud computing is expected to increase exponentially from $1.3 billion in 2019 to $12.5 billion by 2030.

The ongoing worldwide vaccine rollout has increased the hope for the world to return to a relative level of normalcy as we knew it, but the realities of the “new normal” and the uncertainties caused by the pandemic have led to more and more organizations changing their course to move towards cloud computing and digital transformation.

Why Did The COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerate Cloud Adoption?

Cloud computing was always on the rise due to the considerable advantages it offered to businesses across all industries. However, the pandemic acted as a catalyst that forced organizations to truly understand the value of cloud computing and the flexibility it brings, leading to more rapid adoption.

According to Gartner, the global end-user spending on public cloud services is predicted to grow by 18.4% by the end of 2021 to reach $304.9 billion. The research vice president at Gartner, Sid Nag, said “The pandemic validated cloud’s value proposition. The ability to use on-demand, scalable cloud models to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity is providing the impetus for organizations to accelerate their digital business transformation plans rapidly. The increased use of public cloud services has reinforced cloud adoption to be the ‘new normal,’ now more than ever.”

Traders and risk managers are professionals who have typically worked in the office. These highly data-intensive professions also turned on their heads and saw a sudden shift to cloud adoption.

Trading rooms are no longer loud arenas where stock brokers shouted sales across the floor. Instead, all the information moved to the screen at the turn of the millennium. Traders still clustered in trade rooms, but the goal became improved interpretation, especially for the more complex trades.

The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) conducted a survey that found that before the pandemic, only 2% of Financial Risk Managers were working remotely compared to 87% since the pandemic began. Fortunately, very few respondents said that their experiences with access to critical data and systems worsened due to remote work. Most professionals found that risk and incident reporting worked “as good or better” than before the pandemic.

Crucial Reasons For Accelerated Cloud Adoption

Here are some of the most critical reasons for the more rapid shift to cloud computing and digital transformation.

Retaining Business Resilience

Most conversations revolving around cloud computing in the pre-pandemic era were about adopting a modern infrastructure for rapid innovation and cost optimization. However, the pandemic increased the focus on aspects like high availability, disaster recovery, lower costs for backup and disaster recovery, flexible computing power, legacy skill risk, remote workforce management, resilient core for business process and continuity, and business agility to allow for resilient business functions. Flexera released its 2020 State of the Cloud Report, which mentioned that a significant number of industry leaders expect cloud spend to increase by 47% in 2021.

Changing Business Operations

Business operations have also pivoted for the socially distanced era due to the rising demand for e-learning, telemedicine, AI, AR, VR scenarios, digital payments solutions, intelligent chatbots, virtual retail experiences, etc. The e-commerce sector and video-streaming services have boomed as more people shifted to online shopping and seeking entertainment while staying at home due to inaccessibility to in-store purchasing and public entertainment venues.

Remote Working

Remote work culture was gradually picking up before the pandemic was ever in the picture. However, the pandemic has enforced the necessity of remote work capability. Cloud computing has been the vital tool that allowed business continuity with remote workforces and seamless online collaboration.

Companies migrated assets to the cloud 20-25 times faster during the pandemic than before. Various cloud computing and storage paradigms that were already on their way to the mainstream before the pandemic have proven themselves during the stress of the remote work revolution. Synergy Research Group found that enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services grew by 35% to $130 billion in 2020 and hit $29 billion in Q1 for fiscal 2021 alone – up by 37% from Q1 2020.

Renewed Focus on Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability has become an imperative aspect for businesses to help them win the confidence of customers, partners, and governments. Organizations are adopting cloud services to harness the benefits of carbon footprint reduction.

Challenges Of Accelerated Cloud Adoption

The pandemic necessitated the acceleration to cloud computing for businesses across all industries. However, the rapid acceleration came along with several challenges, including:

Finding Skilled Talent

The journey to the cloud and digital migration for existing infrastructure involves significant investments, planning, a change in mindset, and specialized talent. IT departments need to be more agile and operate within proactive models instead of reactive models to derive value from cloud adoption.

Compliance and Security Concerns

Privacy and security while ensuring compliance is one of the most relevant challenges posed by accelerated cloud adoption. Service providers need to do away with those fears before organizations can continue cloud adoption. The pandemic exacerbated compliance and security problems due to the accelerated adoption of cloud-based services in response to lockdown measures.

The Rise of Cloud Computing Solution Providers

Cloud computing solution providers like ZE have emerged amid the pandemic as the driving force that is empowering accelerated cloud adoption for organizations while tackling the challenges they might face on their journeys.

ZE Cloud is a completely converged Private Cloud Platform providing simplicity, integration, and manageability. ZE Cloud tackles the challenges of the public cloud and eliminates the staff overheads and runaway costs while delivering performance for intense data needs.

ZE Cloud is built for better performance because it focuses on integration with the data and platforms that organizations want to use. The solution provider works with businesses to help them integrate ZE Cloud into their workflows while moving at a pace that matches business needs for rapid but smooth cloud adoption.

Built with stringent security in mind, ZE Cloud meets compliance requirements. The cloud platform is resilient and integrated with disaster protection, guaranteeing resource availability, ensuring that organizations can be confident that their data, governance, and operations policies will be protected.

ZE’s tools can be tailored to meet the unique requirements for businesses to help them quickly leverage the analytics and data automation necessary for them to succeed.

ZE Managed Services unlocks greater value for organizations, with dedicated experts providing a wide range of monitoring and technical services to businesses to help them get the maximum value from adopting ZEMA solutions, including product tutorials for customers, and monitoring and troubleshooting for data, applications, curve, and databases, while ensuring scalability and support based on the size of the organization. As a flexible platform, ZE Cloud is not constrained to a specific model or deployment methodology, ZE Cloud scales to meet organizational demands, whether it is a startup with five users or an enterprise firm with 10,000 seats.

Consider booking a demo with ZEMA for ZE Cloud services to learn more about the converged cloud platform and how it can support your organization’s digital migration and cloud adoption.

The post How has The COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerated Cloud Adoption appeared first on Blogs by data management Experts & Analysts | ZE.

Global warming has long been a major concern for the world. Unfortunately, despite the warning bells being rung by scientists and environmentalists for decades, a complete transition to renewable energy from fossil fuel was not regarded as a fiscally viable shift.

Recent years have seen the impact of global warming materialize in the form of drastic climate change worldwide. From nonseasonal rains to droughts, storms, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and higher average global temperatures, the impact of global warming has become devastating.

Fortunately, there has been a greater push towards the renewable energy sector. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was founded in 2009 as an international agency dedicated to renewable energy as global interest in renewable energy steadily increased. The agency’s founding is a significant milestone for world renewable energy deployment.

IRENA defines the energy transition as a pathway towards the global energy sector from fossil-based to zero-carbon by the second half of this century.

The idea of zero-emissions electric vehicles that could drive silently seemed like an innovative idea when it was initially introduced. The electric vehicle industry has come a long way since the initial idea. According to the International Energy Agency, there could be as many as 245 million EVs driving on the roads by 2030.

The Renewable Energy and Mining Conundrum

EVs undoubtedly present the opportunity for a significant decrease in global carbon emissions. So too does the prospect of expanding renewable energy generation facilities to meet the rising global demand for renewable energy.
And therein lies a conundrum for the renewable energy sector and the metals and mining industries.

Mined materials are crucial to procure the minerals necessary for the batteries that power EVs. Mined materials are also necessary to manufacture key components required for renewable energy generation facilities like wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric power facilities.

The global mining industry generates between 1.9 and 5.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases each year. Some estimates indicate that the industry accounts for 26% of global carbon emissions and 2-11% of global energy consumption.

The renewable energy sector is more infrastructure intensive and requires much more metals and minerals. The increased focus on expanding renewable energy operations and the necessity of more mining activity to facilitate the expansion effectively presents a paradox in the fight to reduce global carbon emissions.

The need for more mining activity effectively means that the metals and mining industry is here to stay. However, there needs to be a drastic change in mining practices through integrating renewable energy to power mining operations for climate-smart mining.

Renewable Energy and Mining: An Odd but Necessary Couple

It’s no secret that the metals and mining industry has long held a reputation for being a “dirty” industry. Mining operations consume a lot of energy and account for a significant chunk of global carbon emissions. Additionally, mines can be hazardous for the people working in them. The mining industry does more damage than through its contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions because establishing a mine requires damaging the surrounding environment.

However, mining will continue to be the key to the growth of the renewable energy industry. All the green technology heavily relies on certain metals and minerals that can only be acquired through mining operations. From minerals like lithium, graphite, cobalt, and nickel for EV batteries to extracting iron, copper, neodymium for renewable energy facilities, and much more, continued mining operations are critical.

The primary reason to shift to renewable energy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by fossil fuel generators. The need for an uptick in mining operations to facilitate the shift is ironic, but it is a problem that should and possibly can be addressed.

Theoretically, the simplest method to address the need for more mined materials would be to reduce the demand for energy. The earth’s mineral resources are limited, much like fossil fuels. According to a 2019 report by Earthworks and the Institute for Sustainable Futures, the anticipated demand for renewable energy will consume all the cobalt, lithium, and nickel on the planet.

However, reducing energy demand may not be entirely possible due to its essential nature. For the time being, the mining industry is here to stay, and work needs to be done to reduce its impact to continue effectively expanding the renewable energy sector.

Mining to Produce Clean Energy

The transition to low-carbon energy systems has been underway for several decades. The renewable energy sector has been accounting for a steadily rising share in global energy production. 2019 saw the renewable power industry’s share of annual power capacity expansion reach over 72% of new installed capacity.

The Paris Agreement signed by several countries has been a primary driver for this shift. Governments for countries that are a part of the agreement have been introducing regulations and incentives to reach the climate mitigation and decarbonization goals set by the agreement.

Clean Energy for Sustainable Mining

Integrating green energy into mining operations to make the vital sector more sustainable can effectively create a synergy between the two seemingly opposite industries.

Overall energy expenses are estimated to constitute 30% of total cash operating costs for mining companies to make mining more sustainable. Almost a third of the consumed energy in the mining industry is in the form of electricity.

Renewable energy production used to be prohibitively expensive, and mining companies primarily found the financial aspect a deterrent for integrating renewable energy operations to cover electricity consumption in mining operations. However, renewable energy costs have decreased drastically over the last ten years, allowing more companies to integrate renewable energy into mining operations for the past several years. This transition has been observed more in remote mining locations where the cost of electricity to power the facilities through the grid would be more prohibitive than relying on renewables.

The rising climate change awareness has started gaining more momentum in the industrial world. Combined with the decreasing costs for renewable energy, the metals and mining industry is expanding the share of renewables powering their operations. Some notable names in the industry include mining companies like Antofagasta in Chile, Gold Fields in South Africa, and the Anglo-Australian multinational Rio Tinto.

Most of these companies achieve this through Power Purchasing Agreements or joint ventures with energy providers by acquiring renewable energy certificates.

Making Metals and Mining Industries More Efficient, Effective, and Sustainable for a Green Future

The metals and mining industries are some of the largest and most complex commodity markets. The data requirement of mining companies is immense and plays a critical role for the industry. Unfortunately, the complex and data-rich environment presents challenges for the industry in terms of effective data management and planning.

Making an industry-wide shift to push for expanding renewable energy integration into mining operations will effectively result in the addition of even more data sources beyond the current data sources that the industry already has to contend with.

Improving mining operations requires better data management practices. Similarly, shifting to climate-smart mining operations would require tracking and analyzing an overwhelmingly larger amount of data to integrate environmentally sustainable mining praxis.

Integrating renewable energy to significantly reduce the environmental impact of mining operations can pave the way for the world to successfully increase the global power market share of renewables in the coming decades.

Accurate data, better data analytical solutions, and improved data management solutions will play a critical role in deploying the necessary changes to mining operations for more sustainable industry practices and responsible mining to fully realize the supply and demand for mined materials that facilitate the expanding renewable energy sector.

ZEMA is a platform that provides an award-winning solution for data-driven organizations. ZEMA allows companies to foresee and understand business-centric data effectively. The platform has innovated revolutionary capabilities for data collection, data analysis, process automation, and more effective integration of downstream systems.

Implementing tailor-made solutions for data-intensive businesses by ZEMA offers the industry a chance to reduce overall risks, enhance corporate efficiency, and increase the overall bottom line.

Naturally, there will be a greater influx of data for the mining industry to play a role in the energy transition for a greener future. ZEMA automates the flow of data, including data collection, analysis, and integration. The platform consolidates and centralizes market data reports from over 1,000 data providers and data sources. Even if a data report does not exist within the platform’s data ecosystem, it acquires it.

The end-to-end data management solution provided by ZEMA can play a key role in the changing landscape for the synergy being established between the renewable energy industry and the metals and mining industry.

Consider booking a demo with ZEMA to learn more about the platform that has decreased the risk of data-driven decision-making through automated data collection, secure centralization, dynamic analytics, automation of workflows and processes, and integration with third-party applications.

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A Virtual Fireside Interview on data trends, data management pain points and solutions for the Energy and Commodities Industry Sector

Introduction

With over 25 years worth of experience in technology and sales, ZE PowerGroup’s Ian Gordon is no stranger to innovation. His areas of expertise include the energy and commodities markets, with a special focus on renewable energy as of late. He also has knowledge of Finance and Insurance companies. Throughout his career as a Director of Business Development, Ian has taken industry trends such as the use of big data and the establishment of cloud as a deployment model in stride. By doing so, he has helped solidify ZEMA as a significant player within the energy and commodities sectors outside of North America.

In this interview learn about Ian’s understanding of the pain points and trends that companies in the energy and commodities markets face. Also discussed is how ZEMA can help business professionals such as traders and risk managers.

Industry and Pain Points

Q: Hello Ian, can you start by telling me about what you do on a day-to-day basis, and what industries you work the most closely with as a Director of Business Development?

A: On a day-to-day basis, my goal is to identify and work with energy and commodities companies to help them get the data they need to make the best possible business decisions. As using renewables such as hydroelectricity will become the norm within the next 5 years, many of our clients have been focusing on using ZEMA for data on these topics. I also work with finance companies who have a presence in the commodities space, and insurance companies.

Q: As someone who is in close contact with companies in these sectors, what would you say the most common pain points companies are facing here?

A: As you know, one of the biggest trends and will continue to grow is the use of data such as big data and market data. Companies are always requesting more data and more information in order to stay competitive. This becomes more complex when you consider that the data needs to be relevant, timely and accurate. Therefore, an immense pain point that companies face is how to manage it—eventually, there isn’t a financial return on hiring more people. The other frequently mentioned pain point is that it can be challenging to analyze data when it’s coming from multiple sources and in multiple formats.

Q: What are the implications these pain points have on companies?

A: Most of our clients have risk exposure to the market for pricing. They need to be able to purchase at the right time, in order to be prepared to sell to their clients. Without hedging and building the right information, the data will not be as accurate or timely for their needs. As data continues to get more complex, the quality of data, and the ability to manage it properly, becomes imperative for success in the markets.

Q: What are some of the ways that companies are trying to adapt in order to resolve these pain points?

A: This answer can be summed up in four words: Single Source of Truth. By having all of a company’s prices and data come from one place, even if there are several downstream sources, it is less likely to have discrepancies, and more likely to be efficient and reliable. Data governance is a significant part of that within an organization.

How ZEMA Helps

Q: Now that we’ve covered data in the industry as a whole, can you describe what ZEMA is? Who is it helpful for and why is it important?

A: ZEMA is a cloud-based platform that provides a service to the marketplace—it allows companies to manage data, run complex analytics, and make better informed decisions. It allows our clients to use, store and transform multiple sources of data (internal and external) in one environment. For traders, risk managers and market analyst ZEMA’s forward curve and workflow automation module gives them ownership, integrity, and transparency of data in support of their business operations.

Q: What sets ZEMA apart from its competitors?

A: ZE’s key differentiator is the level of customer service we provide to our clients, which we put considerable effort into providing them as part of the overall solution, and we very much view our clients as long-term partners in responding to their requirements. Additionally, ZEMA works closely with multiple data vendor partners in supporting more than twelve thousand data sources, with the speed of adding new data sources a strong part of the value proposition. This in turn allows clients to free up resources to focus on creating value elsewhere.

Q:  A final question for you: if there’s one key takeaway people should have from this blog post, what should it be?

A: The new sources and volumes of data that companies need to consume to support their business operations continually grows, the challenge is keeping on top of this demand.  ZE as a company has economies of scale because we are adding, delivering and supporting many of the same data sources for similar companies every day. Individual companies doing this themselves, have to commit resources fulltime to meet these data requirements without adding much value. Simply put, it’s more efficient and cost effective to outsource this function to a company dedicated to it as its core competency.

About Ian Gordon, Director of Business Development, European Markets, ZE PowerGroup Inc.

Ian is an experience executive with more than twenty-five years in the software solutions and information services sector to the Investment banking and energy and commodities markets. Having set up and developed the UK based business for Fame Software a Citibank NA subsidiary in 1993, Ian helped build it into a global business through setting up sales and account management operations across EMEA. With Fame’s then acquisition by VC’s Ian was involved in the rapid growth of the business through its’s acquisition and integration of a number of companies during that time. On its’ acquisition by Sungard, Ian went on the run the Fame Energy business at Sungard. Ian joined ZE in 2009 starting its’ European business and is actively involved in its’ continued growth.

For more information about how ZEMA can help your company satisfy its data needs, be sure to visit the solutions section of our website!

The post Q & A: An Interview with Ian Gordon, Director of Business Development, European Markets, ZE PowerGroup Inc. appeared first on Blogs by data management Experts & Analysts | ZE.