Enterprise-Grade Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies: Proven strategies to digitally transform your business with hybrid and multi-cloud solutions

Enterprise-Grade Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies

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To my mom, Geetha, for infusing the love of reading at an early age.

To my dad, Annamalai, who instilled the sense of freedom to explore fearlessly.

To my wife, Sangeetha, my biggest supporter, critic, and believer.

To my little angels, Athulya and Aadhya, for inspiring me every day.

To all my gurus, for their wisdom and guidance.

I also would like to thank the technical reviewers and the Packt team for their dedication and support in bringing this book to life.

Foreword

The appeal of the hybrid cloud is undeniable. It offers the best of both worlds – the flexibility of public cloud services and the control of private infrastructure. However, this flexibility comes at a cost – complexity. It poses unique sets of challenges that require careful consideration, innovative solutions, and change management.

Whether you are jumpstarting your cloud transformation journey, trying to understand hybrid cloud paradigms, or designing a scalable and open foundation for a cloud-first IT organization, this book is your guide to navigate through the complexities and find meaningful solutions and actionable guidance to maximize your returns on investment.

Sathya has done a brilliant job of highlighting the critical aspects of how an enterprise can transform their hybrid cloud from a complex maze into a powerful engine for innovation. This book empowers you to build a robust hybrid cloud foundation, enabling agility, scalability, and a competitive edge in the digital landscape.

I am extremely hopeful that this will serve as a trusted companion for any enterprise that is embarking on their cloud journey, guiding them toward success in an increasingly hybrid and interconnected world.

—Kunal Das, SVP, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Advance Auto Parts

Contributors

About the author

Sathya AG is a principal architect at Google, where he leads digital transformation initiatives. In this capacity, Sathya works with large enterprise customers to digitally transform, innovate, and scale their businesses through the adoption of modern technologies. Prior to his current role at Google, Sathya served as an enterprise architect at Oracle, spearheading go-to-market and digital-native strategies for retail and healthcare industries. He is a tech evangelist, regularly writes on emerging technologies on various forums, and can also be found speaking at industry events and conferences. Sathya holds a postgraduate degree in business administration and a bachelor’s in electronics engineering. In addition to his professional endeavors, Sathya serves as an advisory board member of the CDAO circle, mentors young graduates, and volunteers for humanitarian causes. Sathya lives in Apex, North Carolina, with his wife and two daughters.

I would like to thank my mentors at Google for their guidance and support. I would also like to extend my thanks to my wife, Sangeetha, and my daughters, Athulya and Aadhya, for their patience, support, and encouragement, without which this book wouldn’t have been possible.

About the reviewers

Naresh Kumar Miryala is a highly experienced engineering leader with nearly 20 years of industry experience and a strong background in the cloud, platform engineering, and artificial intelligence. He leads high-performing cloud data platform teams in his current role at Meta Platforms, Inc. He has a proven track record of carrying out cloud transformations, infrastructure implementation, database management, ERP solutions, and DevOps deployments. His expertise spans multiple domains, such as database systems, large-scale backend infrastructure, security, multi-cloud deployments, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and artificial intelligence.

I’d like to thank my family and friends, who understand the time and commitment it takes to research. I am grateful for your unwavering belief in me and for always pushing me to be my best self.

Charith Hettige has worked in the IT infrastructure domain for over 21 years and has specialized in cloud solutions architecture and cloud operations for over 10 years. He has worked for multinational organizations that operate infrastructure services to provide internet-scale products around the globe. He holds multiple certifications from the industry in the areas of the cloud, security, infrastructure, and IT service management. He obtained his Master of Science in information technology from Cardiff Metropolitan University in Cardiff, Wales. He also serves as a technical advisor to the CompTIA SME Technical Advisory Committee. He has also been a freelance Microsoft Certified Trainer for 10 years.

I am humbled by the opportunity to provide technical expertise and contribute to the success and growth of the industry by sharing my learning and experiences. I would like to thank the author for the opportunity to collaborate and every person who has supported me in this process.

Anant Dimri brings decades of expertise in guiding customers through transformation journeys. He has worked at Microsoft for 16 years, helping major financial, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical companies, and currently works at Google, helping their biggest customers with their digital transformation journeys. He has a master’s in computer science and has been a speaker at several cloud events.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to my beloved wife and my two boys for their unwavering support. I’m also deeply indebted to Sathya for inviting me to collaborate on this remarkable project.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1: Challenges with Cloud Adoption at an Enterprise Scale

1

Leadership, Will, and Mindset

The Blockbuster case study

Innovation is NOT optional

The innovation continuum

Two tales of leadership, will, and mindset

Leading the digital transformation of enterprise

Summary

Further reading

2

A Primer on the Cloud

Essential characteristics of the cloud

Service models

Value drivers of different service models

Cloud deployment models

Driving business agility with cloud

Cloud adoption in different industries

Retail

The store of the future

Point of sale (POS)

E-commerce to omni-commerce

Customer data platform

Supply chain demand planning and forecasting

Associate productivity

Other areas of innovation

Healthcare and life sciences

Banking, financial services, and insurance

Telecommunications

Government

Adopting a hybrid cloud

What is and isn’t a hybrid cloud?

Challenges in adopting a hybrid cloud

Myths of cloud adoption

Myth 1 – the cloud is a one-size-fits-all solution approach

Myth 2 – the cloud creates a vendor dependency and lock-in

Myth 3 – the cloud is more expensive than traditional on-premises

Myth 4 – the cloud is less secure than traditional on-premises

Myth 5 – the cloud is a panacea

Summary

Further readings

3

Enterprise Challenges with Cloud Adoption

Where do we start? Complexities of an enterprise IT ecosystem

Tech debt

Business units creating their IT marts

Proprietary private clouds

Data sprawl and integration

Security

Choosing the right cloud strategy

Identifying the right workloads for cloud transformation

Big bang migration

Data center exit

Lift and shift applications to the cloud

Hybrid cloud strategy

Multi-cloud strategy

Choosing the right cloud provider

Business aspects

Technology aspects

Innovation aspects

Security aspects

Dealing with financials

Summary

Part 2: Succeeding with Hybrid Cloud and Multi-Cloud

4

Building the Foundations for a Modern Enterprise

Leavitt’s diamond for change management

The golden triangle

People – the foundation of organizational success

Processes – streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency

Technology – enabling innovation and competitive advantage

Enterprise cloud maturity assessment

Cloud Adoption Maturity Model (CAMM)

The people pillar

The process pillar

The technology pillar

Google’s Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)

CCoE

Building the foundations for a cloud-ready enterprise

The startup mindset

Everything is a product

Platform as a product

The Internal Developer Platform (IDP)

A focus on CUJs

Embracing open source in the cloud

Summary

Further reading

5

An Enterprise Journey to Cloud Transformation

Picking the right cloud initiatives using the multi-dimensional value-complexity matrix

Complexity factors

Business value factors

NPV

Enterprise cloud transformation journeys

Modernizing on-premises applications

Optimizing on-premises data centers

Born in the cloud

Other unique transformation journeys

Cloud migration strategies

The 6 R’s application migration strategies

Hybrid cloud strategies

Dev-test in the cloud, production on-premises

Disaster recovery in the cloud

Cloud bursting

Innovating in the cloud through emerging technologies

IoT

Artificial intelligence

Edge computing

Blockchain

Summary

Further reading

6

Building an Open and Nimble Cloud Framework

Assess

Plan

Deploy

Optimize

Various hybrid cloud and multi-cloud deployment patterns

Tiered hybrid cloud pattern

Partitioned multi-cloud pattern

Edge computing deployment pattern

Redundant hybrid deployment pattern

Foundational network blueprints for hybrid and multi-cloud deployment architectures

Meshed hybrid cloud network topology

Multi-cloud network topology

Gated egress hybrid cloud topology

Gated ingress hybrid-cloud topology

Shared network topology

Private hybrid topology

Network peering topology

Edge network topology

Security foundations for enterprises

Shared security models of major CSPs

Designing a security-first cloud architecture

Network security

Identity and access management

Infrastructure security

Application security

Cloud-native anti-patterns

Monolith castles in the cloud

Ignoring resource and cost optimization

Undifferentiated heavy lifting

Bloated containers

Mutable infrastructure

Summary

Further readings

7

Hybrid Cloud Use Cases

Airbnb – leading business transformation through technology

Disrupting the hospitality industry

A business born in the cloud

The first architecture

Evolution to microservices

Multi-cloud adoption and transformation

The pandemic and economic slowdown – the optimization phase

Carrefour’s sustainable digital transformation journey

The Carrefour omnichannel strategy

A bold initiative augmented by cloud transformation

Transforming legacy IT to the modern cloud

Carrefour’s IT architecture strategy

Looking ahead – Carrefour’s digital retail 2026 strategy

Wendy’s transforming consumer experiences

Global Next Gen

Reimagining the restaurant experience through technology

Capital One – transforming banking through technology

Capital One’s cloud transformation journey

Capital One’s talent acquisition strategy

Re-architecting the Capital One mobile app on the cloud

Summary

Further reading

Part 3: Lead and Transform Your Business with Cloud

8

Architecting a Cloud-Ready Enterprise

Building a framework for a cloud-ready enterprise

Cloud foundation layer

Legacy apps

Application development and operations

API orchestration, and integration layer

Cloud architecture frameworks from major cloud service providers

AWS Well-Architected Framework

Google Cloud Architecture Framework

Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework

Private and hybrid cloud strategies

Summary

Further reading

9

Facets of Digital Transformation

Building a security-first cloud architecture

Foundational security principles

Automating cloud asset management

IAM

Network security

Application security

Data security

Data sovereignty and data residency

Rethinking infrastructure

Compute infrastructure

Network infrastructure

Storage infrastructure

Application modernization strategy

Traditional application modernization

Cloud-native DevOps

Data modernization

Cloud optimization and cost governance

The inform phase

The optimize phase

The operate phase

Summary

Further readings

10

Leading and Innovating with the Cloud

Innovating with the cloud

Setting up innovation labs

Vision and governance

Talent and partnerships

Innovate and deliver

Innovating with big data and serverless

Banking and financial services

Retail

Healthcare

Embedding AI across the enterprise

GenAI

XR

Edge computing

Blockchain

Quantum computing

Responsible uses of emerging technologies

Summary

Further reading

11

ESG and Sustainability

Definition of ESG and sustainability

Environmental impact

Social impact

Governance

The value of ESG for enterprises

Stakeholder expectations

Competitive advantage

Long-term business viability

Risk mitigation

Regulatory landscape

Building a sustainability program

ESG reporting standards and frameworks

Double materiality assessment and reporting

Adopting an ESG reporting program

Cloud computing as an ESG enabler

Environmental factors

Social factors

Governance factors

Building sustainable applications in the cloud

Summary

Further reading

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface

In the last decade, cloud technology has evolved from just another deployment platform into an engine for digital disruption. As modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, edge computing, and quantum computing, continue to build on the foundations laid by cloud agility, scale, and resiliency, the cloud has become an indispensable platform that powers not just IT transformation but also business transformation. Embracing the cloud empowers enterprises to innovate faster, deliver new capabilities more efficiently, and maintain a competitive edge in the dynamic global marketplace.

Cloud adoption at an enterprise scale is a journey and can bring with it several challenges, including where to start, identifying the right workloads, and choosing the right cloud strategy. There are several resources that offer an opinionated view of cloud strategies from a target cloud platform perspective. This book aims to take a provider and platform agnostic perspective and will present a prescriptive framework, strategies, and best practices, which will help enterprises build an open, nimble, and modern cloud-ready enterprise.

Based on my extensive experience working with several enterprises across multiple industries on digital transformation initiatives, this book will provide a deeper insight into the various facets of cloud transformation and how enterprises can leverage the cloud as a vehicle to lead and drive innovation.

Who this book is for

This book is written for enterprise IT leaders and architects responsible for driving business transformation through cloud adoption. With cloud migration strategies, prescriptive frameworks, and practical real-world examples, this book will serve as a guide to lead and innovate with the cloud, from setting up the IT organization framework to architectural best practices and ESG.

The target demographic for this book is as follows:

IT leaders: Leaders responsible for defining the organization’s cloud strategy, vision, and setting up a cloud center of excellence

Enterprise architects: Enterprise architects and solutions architects are responsible for designing the organization’s future state IT infrastructure

What this book covers

Chapter 1

, Leadership, Will, and Mindset, offers insights into the importance of the leadership, will and mindset in setting up the organization’s strategy and vision for success. This chapter also explores the significance of leadership with a few real-world examples and how it shapes their future.

Chapter 2

, A Primer on the Cloud, provides an overview of the fundamental cloud concepts, including its essential characteristics. This chapter also explores cloud adoption across multiple industries, the myths of cloud adoption, and driving business agility with the cloud.

Chapter 3

, Enterprise Challenges with Cloud Adoption, explores the challenges and complexities that enterprises face with cloud adoption and the techniques to navigate them. It further explores how enterprises can identify the right workloads for cloud transformation, cloud best practices, and dealing with cloud financial models.

Chapter 4

, Building the Foundations for a Modern Enterprise, offers insights into organizational change management, cloud maturity assessment frameworks, establishing a cloud center of excellence, and building a cloud foundation that is based on open standards.

Chapter 5

, An Enterprise Journey to Cloud Transformation, provides an overview of the multi-dimensional value-complexity matrix, various enterprise cloud transformation journeys, cloud migration strategies, and innovating with emerging technologies in the cloud.

Chapter 6

, Building an Open and Nimble Cloud Framework, focuses on defining a cloud adoption framework, hybrid cloud design patterns, blueprints for hybrid cloud and multi-cloud architectures, security architectures, and cloud-native anti-patterns.

Chapter 7

, Hybrid Cloud Use Cases, explores the cloud transformation journeys of enterprises that have embraced the cloud to drive business objectives

Chapter 8

, Architecting a Cloud-Ready Enterprise, offers insights into an opinionated framework that can serve as a blueprint for architecting a provider-agnostic cloud framework and how organizations can choose the right cloud strategy.

Chapter 9

, Facets of Digital Transformation, provides an overview of the core facets of digital transformation, including building a security-first cloud architecture, modernizing infrastructure, application modernization, data modernization, and optimizing and scaling cloud infrastructure to maximize cloud value realization.

Chapter 10

, Leading and Innovating with the Cloud, explores the strategies organizations can leverage to lead and innovate in the cloud, including setting up innovation centers of excellence and innovating responsibly with emerging technologies.

Chapter 11

, ESG and Sustainability, explores the value enterprises can gain from ESG and sustainability goals and initiatives, how to build a sustainability program, and how to leverage the cloud as an enabler for an organization’s ESG objectives.

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Part 1: Challenges with Cloud Adoption at an Enterprise Scale

In this part, we will explore and understand the challenges as enterprises embark on a digital transformation with the cloud, and the importance of leadership vision, will, and mindset. We will also review the fundamental elements of cloud computing and how organizations can leverage the cloud to drive business agility. Finally, we will explore the various challenges and complexities that enterprises face with cloud transformation and the strategies to address them.

This part includes the following chapters:

Chapter 1

, Leadership, Will, and Mindset

Chapter 2

, A Primer on the Cloud

Chapter 3

, Enterprise Challenges with Cloud Adoption

1

Leadership, Will, and Mindset

In a book on cloud computing, you might find it unusual to encounter an entire chapter dedicated to leadership, will, and mindset. As technology continues to evolve exponentially, enterprises often find themselves in a dilemma; some fall behind the innovation curve due to fear of failure, whereas others start chasing every new trend. This is a direct reflection of the lack of vision and leadership. Before we dive deeper into the world of cloud computing, the purpose of this chapter is to recognize the crucial role of leadership, will, and mindset for a successful digital transformation.

In today’s digital world, an organization’s business agility to react to market demands is directly proportional to its digital maturity and capability. In modern enterprise architecture parlance, IT has evolved into a core pillar of business innovation from just being a traditional cost center. At the heart of every successful digital transformation, leadership, will, and mindset are indispensable. Strong visionary leaders set the vision and strategic direction, shape an organizational culture for innovation, and advocate for enterprise digital transformation to tap into an organization’s full potential for growth and competitiveness.

Digital transformation has become a critical factor in the rapidly evolving technology landscape to drive innovation. It is not merely an option or a trend; rather, it has become a necessity for enterprises to survive, thrive, and remain competitive. Digital transformation involves the integration of digital technologies into all aspects of an organization, fundamentally changing how it operates and delivers value to customers. However, successful digital transformation requires more than just adopting new technologies. The one common attribute among all successful organizations is their ability to innovate and create value for their consumers. Why are some organizations more successful than others, where innovation is almost always natural and does not require external motivation? The answer lies in strong leadership, will, and mindset that can guide, inspire, and cultivate a sustainable culture of innovation. Innovative leaders unleash digital transformation in enterprises by developing a clear vision, fostering an environment for experimentation, promoting customer centricity, and empowering teams to collaborate. In this chapter, we will explore the crucial role of leadership, will, and mindset in setting the pace and tone for an enterprise’s digital transformation. We will also delve into the following:

How innovation is NOT just a choice for enterprises in the modern age to sustain and thrive in a competitive landscape

The exponential evolution of digital trends across various industries

Establishing a process for innovation through the innovation continuum

The tale of two enterprises – Kodak and Fujifilm and how leadership, will, and mindset shaped their destiny

How can enterprise leaders lead a strategic and sustainable digital transformation?

Let’s try to understand why innovation is not a choice but a necessity through the following case study.

The Blockbuster case study

In the fall of 1985, David Cook founded Blockbuster, which would later emerge as a home for not just video/DVD movie rentals but also as a social space for local movie buffs to meet and socialize. Within the next few years, backed by its success, Blockbuster expanded its operations internationally and became a popular household name. Soon after, Viacom acquired Blockbuster and took it public in 1999. At its peak, Blockbuster had over 9000 stores worldwide and boasted a revenue of USD 5.9 million [1]. Buoyed by the momentum and consumer demand, Blockbuster cemented its position and business model and leveraged its almost monopolized market advantage to penalize loyal consumers for late returns; this is evidenced by the fact that, in the year 2000, roughly 16% of Blockbuster’s revenue came from late fees. By the turn of the century, with the exponential growth of technology, customer preferences and demands were evolving rapidly. Rather than walking into a physical store to rent DVDs, consumers fancied the idea of browsing DVDs on the web and having them delivered to their doorsteps at a palatable subscription fee minus the late fee that Blockbuster was infamous for. Capitalizing on digital disruption and changing customer demands, several new players emerged in the video rental space, such as Netflix and RedBox, offering newer channels such as DVD-by-mail and online streaming services. Despite the shift in consumer demand, digital disruption, and mounting competition, Blockbuster did little to change its strategy and refused to adapt to changing market trends. Ironically, in the year 2000, Blockbuster turned down an offer to acquire Netflix for USD 50 million, which subsequently led to Blockbuster filing for bankruptcy within the decade [2].

The primary factors attributed to the downfall of Blockbuster are the following:

Failure to embrace the digital disruption: Blockbuster was comfortable with the existing business model and failed to recognize the shift in industry trends and customer needs and preferences, leading them to dismiss the potential of online rentals and streaming services, which ultimately disrupted the traditional brick-and-mortar video rental model. The company was too slow to adapt to the emerging trends such as online subscription and streaming services, whereas competitors such as Netflix were already capitalizing on digital technologies to offer convenience and accessibility to consumers, causing a dent in Blockbuster’s market share.

Failure to create customer value: Blockbuster misplaced its focus on topline revenue rather than creating consumer value. The company failed to generate consumer value while heavily relying on maximizing profits and revenue by charging loyal customers late fees. It also failed to assess the significant consumer value that could be generated by adopting modern digital trends. Competitors such as Netflix offered greater convenience, broader content libraries, personalized recommendations, and subscription models that resonated with consumers. Blockbuster struggled to match the offerings and value propositions offered by its competitors.

Poor strategic decisions: Blockbuster made several strategic missteps that further exacerbated its decline. For instance, the company passed on an opportunity to acquire Netflix in its early stages, underestimating the potential of the emerging business model. Blockbuster also pursued late-entry initiatives such as DVD kiosks and online streaming, but these efforts failed to regain lost ground.

There have been several technological innovations that transformed the world forever, from the invention of paper to penicillin and electricity. However, the inventions of the last century, such as airplanes (1903), television (1927), VCRs (1965), personal computers (1971), cellular phones (1973), the internet (1983), the World Wide Web (1989), portable GPS (1990), Google Search (1997), Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), the iPhone (2007), and Android (2008), have democratized technology advancements to the masses.

Another technological advancement that is fundamentally altering the way businesses innovate is artificial intelligence (AI). In 1950, Alan Turing, in his seminal paper titled Computing Machinery and Intelligence, opened with a thought-provoking question, "Can machines think?" [3]. Since then, AI has undergone rapid evolution and has matured into a disruptive technology that is having a profound impact on almost every industry. AI is powering creative applications, including autonomous vehicles, robotic surgery, fraud detection, and generative AI that creates new art, to name a few.

If we map these disruptive technologies against the time it took for them to penetrate the market, technological advancements in recent times, such as personal computers, the internet, mobiles, social media, and digital payments, only needed a quarter of the time to permeate the market compared to the innovations of previous generations [4]. In fact, modern technology disruptions are only growing exponentially, forcing enterprises across industries to keep up or lag behind [5]. It is important to note that the modern technology innovations of the digital era (highlighted area in the chart below) have exponentially penetrated the world market:

Figure 1.1 – Technological innovations and the time taken to penetrate the world market

Let’s compare two revolutionary technological advancements - the automobile and mobile phones. The invention of the automobile disrupted the way we travel, and the invention of mobile phones transformed not just how people communicate but also how modern-day businesses are conducted. Since its invention in the late 19th century, it took the automobile industry over six decades to penetrate the market and become established, versus the advent of mobile phones, which only took a decade. Modern-day technologies evolve at a rapid pace, and it is crucial for organizations to stay relevant.

For mobile device manufacturers, it wasn’t easy to stay abreast of the fast-paced technological advancements and the exponential disruption in communication technology at the turn of every decade: analog cellular (1G), digital cellular (2G), mobile broadband (3G), native IP networks (4G), and new radio (5G); traditional providers, such as Nokia and Motorola, who once commanded significant market share, were phased out by new entrants such as Samsung and Apple [6].

Innovation is NOT optional

Many long-standing enterprises find it difficult to generate organic growth, with younger companies outperforming established players. To put this in context, the average tenure of an S&P 500 company has been declining as the speed of digital disruption is accelerating [7]. In the late 1970s, the average age of an S&P 500 was 35 years, and this number is predicted to further decline to just 12 years by 2027.

Organizations that have stood the test of time amidst digital disruption have adopted strategies that evolve continuously to help them withstand more fluid or uncertain market times. It doesn’t take much for a new entrant or a startup to come up with an idea that disrupts an entire industry. Let’s look at a few companies that veered off traditional methods and revolutionized their respective industries:

Airbnb, founded in 2008, is one of the largest accommodation platforms that disrupted the hospitality industry. While traditional hospitality companies owned, maintained, and operated properties, Airbnb revolutionized the tourism industry by serving as an online marketplace for short-term homestays and holiday experiences.

Uber, founded in 2009, is the largest ride-sharing company that disrupted the car rental and leasing industry. While traditional car rental companies owned and leased cars to customers, Uber changed the dynamic by offering ride-shares through just a mobile app.

Netflix, founded in 1997, started as a DVD rental business and is now the largest streaming platform that has transformed the way consumers rent and watch movies and TV shows. While Netflix does produce its own movies and TV shows, it primarily leases movies and TV shows that can be streamed on its platform.

Amazon, founded in 1994 as an online marketplace for books, is the largest online retailer by simply serving as a marketplace platform connecting buyers and sellers, revolutionizing the retail industry, whereas traditional retailers have to own and operate a physical brick-and-mortar store and manage inventory. Since then, Amazon transformed itself into a conglomerate and expanded into several industries.

Spotify, founded in 2006, is the largest music streaming service but doesn’t own any music. Instead, it licenses music from record labels and lets subscribers stream it for a fee.

Robinhood, founded in 2013, disrupted the financial services industry by offering commission-free trades of stocks and exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies, which was never thought possible before. Robinhood democratized trading through a simple mobile app.

Teladoc, founded in 2002, is one of the largest telehealth companies that disrupted the healthcare industry by leveraging mobile technology to connect patients and doctors virtually anytime outside of a healthcare facility. Unlike traditional healthcare providers, Teladoc doesn’t employ doctors or have its healthcare facilities.

Pillpack, founded in 2013, disrupted the pharmaceutical industry that was traditionally dominated by retail players that operated in a physical space, filling prescriptions for patients. Pillpack ideated and implemented the concept of consolidating multiple pill prescriptions and delivering it to customers’ doorsteps.

Chime, founded in 2012, is a challenger bank that offers banking services exclusively through online and mobile, disrupting the banking industry by offering fee-free banking, early paydays, no fee, and no credit check credit cards, forcing traditional players to respond.

Rent the Runway, founded in 2009, is a clothing rental company that disrupted the designer clothing industry by allowing customers to rent, subscribe, or buy designer clothes through their online platform. This business model addressed a major consumer concern of overspending and having to own apparel such as event garments, wedding dresses, and ski apparel, which are infrequently used.

One commonality across all these companies is that business disruption is almost always led by modern digital technology. Let us explore how enterprises can innovate and move up the digital frontier.

The innovation continuum

Contrary to the belief that innovation happens in a siloed, vacuum environment, it is actually a systemic and continual process. Innovation requires not only the generation of new ideas but also the implementation and sustained adoption of those ideas. This often involves overcoming significant barriers and challenges, such as resistance to change, regulatory hurdles, or technical limitations. It also requires a systematic approach to identifying and addressing customer needs, understanding market trends, and leveraging available resources and expertise.

Leaders must strive to create a culture and a systematic approach to a culture of innovation. An innovation continuum is critical for enterprises to thrive and grow in today’s competitive landscape. The process of innovation is a set of strategic steps where an organization can take creative approaches to realize its vision, goals, and objectives within a timeline [8]. The following diagram illustrates the stages of the innovation continuum:

Figure 1.2 – The innovation continuum

Let’s take a look at each of the stages shown in the preceding diagram:

Ideation: This is the initial stage of the innovation process, where new ideas are sourced and generated through brainstorming, market research, customer feedback, or other sources. The goal is to identify potential areas for innovation and generate a variety of ideas that can be explored further.

Curation: Once a promising idea has been identified, the next step is to curate and develop a concept around the ideas that can be tested and ratified. This can involve the following:

Stakeholder surveys (internal or external) to identify problem areas in different forms

Explore and identify solutions that are available both internally and commercially

Identify the stakeholders of the product in consideration

Build out MVPs (minimum viable product) prototypes or a proof-of-concept

Determine the viability of the idea across multiple dimensions, such as financial, technological, legal, and security dimensions, and its measurable potential impact

Ideas that pass curation move onto the prioritization phase, and the ones that don’t are moved to the back burner.

Prioritization: This is an important step where curated ideas get prioritized based on a variety of factors, including customer or market demands, technology, competitive intel, and applicability to core business capability vs. exploratory considerations. Some popular methods that enterprises can leverage are McKinsey’s three horizons model, a portfolio of initiatives, a strategic control map, and a consumer decision journey [9]. Each of these methods caters to different kinds of prioritization factors that influence decision-making.

Solution hypothesis: At this stage, the concept is tested and evaluated to determine its feasibility, usability, and market potential. This can involve assessing product viability, business value, opportunity cost, customer or stakeholder value, and return on investment.

Incubation and development: Once the concept is deemed feasible and viable, the next step is to develop and implement the technology incrementally. This may involve further building out the MVP, designing the product, building the software, securing sponsorship, leadership oversight, and funding, and developing the infrastructure needed to support the innovation.

Integrate, launch, and scale: Once the technology has been developed, the next step is to integrate, launch, and scale to reach a wider audience. This may involve marketing and promotion, building partnerships, incremental releases, or expanding the product’s capabilities to meet the evolving needs of the market.

As every enterprise is unique, leaders in enterprises can choose the appropriate innovation strategy that best fits their vision and objectives. However, it is crucial to create a culture of innovation and put in place a process that drives it. Several modern enterprises have created and funded R&D departments and innovation labs with a primary focus on industry research, technology research, and viability assessment. Leadership sponsorship is key to ensuring innovation centers do not operate in a silo and are embedded into the organizational structure. Let us explore the tales of two enterprises and how leadership played a crucial role in leading the digital disruption and the need to constantly innovate.

Two tales of leadership, will, and mindset

In 1880, George Eastman, in partnership with Henry A. Strong, founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company with the purpose of selling dry plates for cameras. Within the decade, the company introduced a new film roll process, filed multiple patents, and revolutionized the photography industry by democratizing photographic film products to virtually everyone. By 1888, the company introduced a portable box camera that came with a film roll of 100 exposures, and in 1892, what would eventually become a common household name (Kodak), then known as the Eastman Kodak Company was born.

For much of the 20th century, Kodak dominated the photographic industry and became one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photographic film and cameras. In the early years, Kodak expanded rapidly and was able to keep competitors at bay via a combination of innovation, acquisitions, and exclusive contracts. The company was able to successfully navigate the great depression, both World War I and II, and expanded into producing cameras and films for the movie industry, cameras for surveillance satellites, and