How to use a Coporate Breakdown Structure to benefit Cloud Migration & Big Data initiatives

A Corporate Breakdown Structure (CBS) is a hierarchical representation of a company’s organizational units, including business functions, departments, teams, and individuals. It serves as a blueprint for a company’s organizational design and provides a framework for strategic planning, resource allocation, and performance management. In recent years, companies have been undertaking cloud migrations to enable better data management, enhance security and scalability. In this Blog, we will explore what a CBS is, its benefits, how companies should plan to undertake cloud migrations, and how CBS supports big data.

What is a Corporate Breakdown Structure?

A Corporate Breakdown Structure (CBS) is a framework that divides a company into functional areas, departments, teams, and individuals. It is often used in project management to break down the project into smaller, more manageable components. Each component is then assigned to a specific team or individual who is responsible for its completion. A CBS can be used to represent a company's organizational structure and to provide a clear understanding of how the company operates.

Benefits of a Corporate Breakdown Structure

A CBS provides several benefits to a company, including:

1. Improved Resource Allocation: A CBS enables a company to identify the resources required for each department or function. This enables the company to allocate resources efficiently and effectively, reducing waste and increasing productivity.
2. Clear Communication: A CBS provides a clear representation of a company's organizational structure, making it easier for employees to understand their roles and responsibilities. This leads to better communication and collaboration within the company.
3. Strategic Planning: A CBS enables a company to align its strategic objectives with its organizational structure. This enables the company to identify the areas that require investment, and to develop plans to address any gaps or weaknesses in the structure.
4. Performance Management: A CBS enables a company to set performance targets for each department or function. This enables the company to measure performance against these targets and to identify areas for improvement.
5. Improved Decision Making: A CBS provides a clear understanding of the company's structure, enabling better decision making. This leads to better outcomes and improved performance.

How Companies Should Plan to Undertake Cloud Migrations into the Structure

Cloud migration is the process of moving data, applications, and services from a company's on-premises infrastructure to the cloud. Undertaking a cloud migration can be a complex process, and companies need to plan carefully to ensure a smooth transition. The following are some of the key steps that companies should take when planning a cloud migration into a CBS:

1. Identify Business Requirements: Companies should identify their business requirements for cloud migration. This includes identifying which applications, services, and data need to be migrated to the cloud, and which cloud providers are best suited to meet their needs.
2. Assess the Current Infrastructure: Companies should assess their current infrastructure to determine which components need to be migrated to the cloud. This includes assessing the hardware, software, and network components that are currently in use.
3. Develop a Migration Plan: Companies should develop a migration plan that outlines the steps required to migrate each component to the cloud. This includes determining the order in which components will be migrated, and the timeline for completing the migration.
4. Choose a Cloud Provider: Companies should choose a cloud provider that is best suited to meet their business requirements. This includes assessing the provider's security, reliability, scalability, and cost.
5. Test and Validate: Companies should test and validate their cloud migration before deploying it in a production environment. This includes testing the performance, reliability, and security of the cloud infrastructure.

How CBS Supports Big Data

Big Data refers to the large and complex data sets that are generated by companies today. These data sets are often too large to be processed using traditional data processing tools, and require advanced analytics tools to extract insights and value. CBS can support big data in the following ways:

1. Data Management: A CBS can help companies manage their big data by providing a framework for organizing and storing data. By breaking down data into smaller components, companies can better understand the relationships between different data sets, which can improve data quality and enable more accurate analysis.
2. Data Analytics: CBS can support big data analytics by providing a framework for organizing and analyzing data. By breaking down data into smaller components, companies can more easily analyze specific aspects of their data sets, which can lead to deeper insights and more accurate analysis.
3. Data Visualization: CBS can support data visualization by providing a framework for organizing and displaying data. By breaking down data into smaller components, companies can more easily visualize specific aspects of their data sets, which can lead to more effective communication and better decision-making.
4. Collaboration: CBS can support collaboration by providing a framework for sharing and analyzing data. By breaking down data into smaller components, companies can more easily collaborate on specific aspects of their data sets, which can lead to better teamwork and more effective problem-solving.

By the numbers:

According to a study by Gartner, "By 2022, 90% of corporate strategies will explicitly mention information as a critical enterprise asset and analytics as an essential competency". This highlights the growing importance of data in corporate decision-making and the need for companies to have effective data management strategies.

Another study by McKinsey & Company found that "companies in the top quartile for data-driven decision-making were, on average, 5% more productive and 6% more profitable than their competitors". This demonstrates the significant benefits of effective data management and analytics in improving company performance.

In a survey conducted by Oracle, "60% of companies said that moving to the cloud improved their ability to analyze data and make better business decisions". This highlights the potential benefits of cloud migration in improving data management and analytics capabilities.

Conclusion

A Corporate Breakdown Structure (CBS) is a hierarchical representation of a company's organizational units and serves as a blueprint for a company's organizational design. It provides several benefits to companies, including improved resource allocation, clear communication, strategic planning, performance management, and improved decision-making. When planning a cloud migration into a CBS, companies should identify their business requirements, assess their current infrastructure, develop a migration plan, choose a cloud provider, and test and validate the migration. CBS can support big data management, analytics, visualization, and collaboration, which can lead to improved company performance. The supporting stats highlight the growing importance of effective data management and analytics in corporate decision-making and the potential benefits of cloud migration in improving data management capabilities.