Rethinking Cloud: From Platform To Strategic Advantage

InnovationRethinking Cloud: From Platform To Strategic AdvantageByNicola Sfondrini,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 02, 2026, 10:00am EDTNicola Sfondrini - Partner Cloud Infrastructure and Architecture at PWC. gettyFor years, the conversation around cloud focused primarily on IT: how cloud could simplify infrastructure, improve scalability and modernize application delivery.That conversation should now expand. Cloud is rapidly becoming the foundation for how organizations develop products, serve customers, secure operations and adapt to disruption. MIT research found in 2022, for instance, that cloud adoption can eliminate geographic restrictions, allowing companies to expand their talent searches and lower operating expenses. But that shift also raises strategic questions about how to operate in different regions, so treating cloud mainly as a technology choice is a missed opportunity. In my experience, many organizations approach cloud primarily as a hosting decision, focusing on infrastructure migration without rethinking operating models, engineering practices or business processes.In these cases, the result is often higher costs, limited agility and little meaningful business impact. Rather than unlocking innovation, cloud becomes a more expensive version of the legacy environment, leaving much of its strategic value unrealized.Cloud has entered the league of transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure: critical systems that organizations, governments and entire economies now run on.We need to move the conversation from “How do we migrate to the cloud?” to “How do we leverage cloud to drive innovation, agility and long-term economic value?”​​The National Conversation Around CloudBusinesses are beginning to look at the cloud as strategic infrastructure. As an example, top cloud performe...