As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many enterprises were thrust into the world of cloud before they were truly ready to do so. There was no choice but to survive.

Now, however, companies are reevaluating how they will use cloud moving forward, and SoftwareOne AG is helping enterprises come out of survival mode and learn to fully thrive within the context of cloud.

“It was all about keeping the lights on and running the business,” said Ashley Gaare (pictured), president of North America at SoftwareOne. “Now we’re seeing … this pendulum swing back where it’s like, ‘OK, we’re in the cloud. Now we’ve got to go back in time and … fix the processes, and the financial piece, and the components and the compliance that we didn’t really address … because we were in survival mode.'”

Gaare spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Lisa Martin for the “Special Program Series: Women of the Cloud,” during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed cloud and the ways companies can use it to thrive in business. (* Disclosure below.)

Cloud is driving new products, capabilities

SoftwareOne is a global services provider for end-to-end software cloud management that operates in over 90 countries. Its primary purpose is to help clients really understand the restraints in cloud management — everything from licensing used rights to financial operations to workload migrations — to help them drive better outcomes for their business, according to Gaare.

“What’s next in cloud, both from an industry and a SoftwareOne standpoint, is expanding outside of this infrastructure-as-a-service mindset where cloud was there to run your business,” she stated. “The beauty of it now is that cloud is there to also drive your business and create new products and capabilities.”

One of the biggest trends SoftwareOne is seeing is that all organizations are going to become a service provider or have an application that they host and provide to their clients, Gaare explained. This means that all companies are becoming technology companies no matter what industry they are in.

“It’s not just using tech to run. It’s using tech to build and innovate and be able to create a profit center to be able to drive back those to meet your clients’ needs,” Gaare said. “If you’re not in it, you’re behind.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the “Special Program Series: Women of the Cloud”:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Special Program Series: Women of the Cloud.” Neither Amazon Web Services Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE