Cloud Insights

The cloud is revolutionizing how businesses create value, but only when tech organizations, and the business, understand how to use it and change how they operate.

Featured podcast

Podcast
Maximize the ROI of a cloud transformation

How can executive leaders ensure ROI for their cloud transformation, scale adoption, and drive business value? Chhavi Arora, a partner in McKinsey’s Seattle office, joins Jonathan Allen, AWS enterprise strategist, and Tom Adams, general manager for Business Consulting and Advisory Partners at AWS, to share their share insights on getting the most out of your organization's digital transformation.

Featured Insights

cloud concept - ai generated image
Report

In search of cloud value: Can generative AI transform cloud ROI?

-
New ROI analysis highlights what it takes to capture the value of cloud computing, and what role generative AI can play.
Digital generated image of multiple wind turbines on puffy cloud against green background. - stock photo
Article
Cloud-powered technologies for sustainability
-
AI, machine learning, the Internet of Things, and other technologies can play a critical role in decarbonization, and the cloud...
The abstract pattern formed by the storage tanks of the brewery under the blue sky - stock photo
Article
It’s time for cloud tech to meet operational tech at industrial sites
-
Industrial companies can overcome many of the blockers to the cloud—if key elements of site-level architecture are in place....
Amish Patel headshot
Interview - Cloud Value Radio
Cloud as the ultimate digital enabler
-
Elevance Health’s chief technology officer of platform modernization and cloud enablement discusses how the company uses...
Abstract futuristic cloud computing concept illustration. - stock photo
Article
The new era of resiliency in the cloud
-
Companies can protect their value in the cloud by having a better understanding of what really matters.

Featured collection

antenna broadcasting - stock illustration

Cloud Value Radio

Lessons from leaders on their cloud journeys.

Three elements for capturing value

Capturing the potential value that has eluded many companies requites a cloud transformation engine that is made up of three reinforcing and constantly evolving elements:

Featured videos

Video
Security as code: How to embrace the cloud securely
Kate Smaje, senior partner and global leader of McKinsey Digital, and Rich Isenberg, partner at Cloud by McKinsey, are joined...
Video
Insights to impact
Cloud’s trillion-dollar prize is up for grabs with William Forrest, senior partner.
Cloud value in cash management
Interactive
Cloud value in cash management
-
A recent webinar highlights how banks can unlock significant value and competitive advantage through cloud.
Establishing the next generation infrastructure organization to support hybrid cloud
Webcast
Establishing the next-generation infrastructure organization to support hybrid cloud
-
Transforming to a next-generation infrastructure model can unlock significant value.
Top cloud myths debunked
Webcast
Top cloud myths debunked
-
Companies that effectively understand and counteract common myths about cloud will derive the greatest rewards from their move....

More Insights

Paul Taylor headshot
Podcast
Banks’ core technology conundrum reaches an inflection point
-
The founder and CEO of Thought Machine talks with McKinsey about how advances in cloud-based solutions are helping banks meet...
Hryhorii Tatsyi headshot
Interview
A cloud migration in wartime
-
Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine’s CTO discusses migrating to the cloud under the most traumatic conditions possible—a full-scale...
Casey Santos headshot
Interview - Cloud Value Radio
Focusing on developer experience and embedded security for cloud
-
Asurion’s CIO explains how the company’s timely decision to go cloud-first allows the company to move fast, drive...
Ken Meyer headshot
Interview - Cloud Value Radio
Migrating two banks to the cloud after a merger
-
Truist’s chief information and experience officer discusses the post-merger cloud challenges.
two people on disjointed stairs holding cloud between them over gap - illustration
Blog Post
Bringing data platforms to cloud
-
Data transformations can be enabled and significantly accelerated by cloud.
Cloud computing - stock photo
Article
Projecting the global value of cloud: $3 trillion is up for grabs for companies that go beyond adoption
-
New research reveals where value in the cloud lies—and details scenarios that highlight that cloud adoption alone isn’t...
Crisis concept, falling stairs - stock photo
Article
More for less: Five ways to lower cloud costs without destroying value
-
Companies can often find significant savings in their cloud programs—if they know where to look.
Cloud Computing Technology - stock photo
Article
Five learnings from CTOs and tech leaders on their cloud strategies
-
Recent interviews with tech executives and cloud-program leaders at 50 companies show a gap between cloud aspirations and cloud...
Autonomous driving car
Article
The future of automotive computing: Cloud and edge
-
The rise of 5G and edge computing will create new opportunities along the automotive supply chain. How can semiconductor companies...
Leadership - Success Concept With Paper Airplanes - stock photo
Article
What every insurance leader should know about cloud
-
Successful cloud migrations depend on knowing where the value for insurance lies in cloud and on business and IT working together....
silhouette of man standing in front of digital cloud illustration
Article
Three big moves that can decide a financial institution’s future in the cloud
-
There’s big value potential in the cloud, but financial institutions with a piecemeal migration strategy may be missing...
Group of white spheres on light blue background
Article
What is cloud computing?
-
Cloud computing is the use of comprehensive digital capabilities delivered via the internet for organizations to operate, innovate,...
illustration concentric clouds
Article
Getting the most from cloud services and containers
-
Containers have their place in a successful cloud strategy, but businesses shouldn’t overlook the value that CSP-specific...
photo sun rising behind mountain, clouds in foreground
Article
Cloud in China: The outlook for 2025
-
What will drive China’s next wave of cloud adoption? Successful enterprises will focus not on moving to the cloud but on...
photo of Christoph Böhm
Interview
The cloud as a strategic ecosystem for innovation and growth
-
In this interview, Deutsche Börse’s chief information officer and chief operating officer explains how the company’s...
Cloud economics with up and down arrows
Article
Cloud economics and the six most damaging mistakes to avoid
-
The value potential of cloud is enormous, but only for companies that understand—and adapt to—the realities of cloud...
cloud time above buildings
Article
It’s cloud time for boards—in seven charts
-
These seven charts can help boards shape their business’s cloud strategy.
Cloud foundations Ten commandments for faster--and more profitable--cloud migrations
Article
Cloud foundations: Ten commandments for faster—and more profitable—cloud migrations
-
Cloud migrations flounder quickly unless organizations invest in building the right cloud foundations.
Portrait of Jeff Dirks, TrueBlue's chief technology and information officer
Interview
The business value of innovation in the cloud
-
In this interview, TrueBlue’s chief technology and information officer explains why migrating to the cloud was always about...
Six practical actions for building the cloud talent you need
Article
Six practical actions for building the cloud talent you need
-
Despite a shortage of cloud talent, top companies are finding ways to get past table stakes and build the capabilities needed....
The benefits of being a cloud trailblazer
Interview
The benefits of being a cloud trailblazer
-
To meet an SEC demand for greater transparency, FINRA chose the road less traveled—public cloud—and reached its goals...
“”
Podcast
Boards and the cloud
-
A shift to the cloud requires boards to weigh numerous implications, from the technology infrastructure to cybersecurity.
The case for cloud in life sciences
Article
The case for cloud in life sciences
-
As cloud technology matures, life-sciences companies are generating new paths to business value beyond the cost efficiencies...
Cloud 2030: Capturing Poland's potential for accelerated digital growth
Report
Cloud 2030: Capturing Poland’s potential for accelerated digital growth
-
Widespread adoption of cloud technology across Polish companies and public institutions could generate value equivalent to 4...
Clouds in the sky
Article
Cloud-migration opportunity: Business value grows, but missteps abound
-
Companies aim to embrace the cloud more fully, but many are already failing to reap the sizable rewards. Outperformers have shown...
Cloud calculator
Interactive
Cloud cost-optimization simulator
-
This cloud cost-optimization simulator details the range of levers that can be used to substantially reduce costs for one illustrative...
Fast forward: How cloud computing could transform risk management
Article
Fast forward: How cloud computing could transform risk management
-
Cloud-based computing will provide tangible benefits for banking risk management functions, but risk leaders face significant...
Security as code
Article
Security as code: The best (and maybe only) path to securing cloud applications and systems
-
Managing security as code enables companies to create value in the cloud securely.
What payers and providers can learn from successful cloud transformations in other industries
Article
What payers and providers can learn from successful cloud transformations in other industries
-
Cloud transformations can create value, but requires engagement from the entire healthcare organization.
Lessons from a high-ROI cloud transformation journey
Interview
Lessons from a high-ROI cloud transformation journey
-
Some roadblocks on the cloud journey aren’t apparent until it’s under way. CUNA Mutual’s CIO and its vice president...
Four ways boards can shape the cloud agenda
Article
Four ways boards can shape the cloud agenda
-
Cloud can become an important source of strategic advantage for businesses. It’s time for boards to get involved.
SaaS, open source, and serverless: A winning combination to build and scale new businesses
Article
SaaS, open source, and serverless: A winning combination to build and scale new businesses
-
Three tech approaches can rapidly accelerate business building for established companies that learn how to use them.
Five Fifty: Cloudy with a chance of billions
Interactive - McKinsey Quarterly
Five Fifty: Cloudy with a chance of billions
-
The latest forecast calls for industries to capture billions in value from cloud. But not every company will join in the profits....
Article
Building a cloud-ready operating model for agility and resiliency
-
Four operating-model changes can help companies accelerate the journey to cloud.
Cloud’s trillion-dollar prize is up for grabs
Article - McKinsey Quarterly
Cloud’s trillion-dollar prize is up for grabs
-
Cloud has immense potential, but most companies are only scratching the surface. Recent research clarifies where the value lies—and...
Clearing the air on cloud: How industrial companies can capture cloud technology’s full business value
Article
Clearing the air on cloud: How industrial companies can capture cloud technology’s full business value
-
The industrial application of cloud technology is widely seen as very promising, so we went to the front lines and conducted...
Cloud computing
Blog Post
McKinsey acquires Candid Partners, a leader in cloud consulting
-
With the recent acquisition of Candid Partners, we welcome 100+ senior cloud experts—developers, engineers, agile coaches—into...
Agile's next level: ABN AMRO's hybrid cloud--DevSecOps transformation
Interview
Agile’s next level: ABN AMRO’s hybrid cloud–DevSecOps transformation
-
Transformation success requires thoughtful mastery of multiple disciplines and coordination of many moving parts.
Unlocking value: Four lessons in cloud sourcing and consumption
Article
Unlocking value: Four lessons in cloud sourcing and consumption
-
Companies that are successful in sourcing and managing the consumption of cloud adopt a more dynamic, analytical, and demand-driven...
How public-sector tech leaders can speed up the journey to the cloud
Article
How public-sector tech leaders can speed up the journey to the cloud
-
Moving to the cloud is fraught with challenges. By answering five questions up front, public-sector leaders can ease and accelerate...
Debunking seven common myths about cloud
Article
Debunking seven common myths about cloud
-
Common misconceptions about cloud are holding companies back from capturing the full benefits available.
Making the cloud pay: How industrial companies can accelerate impact from the cloud
Article
Making the cloud pay: How industrial companies can accelerate impact from the cloud
-
The cloud’s real value goes far beyond IT: it can help industrial companies reinvent how they develop, deliver, sell, and service...
How CIOs and CTOs can accelerate digital transformations through cloud platforms
Article
How CIOs and CTOs can accelerate digital transformations through cloud platforms
-
To capture the real value from cloud, companies need to focus their investments and build a cloud-ready operating model.
Reaching for the cloud: A CEO’s guide
Article - McKinsey Quarterly
Three actions CEOs can take to get value from cloud computing
-
Leaders need to accelerate their journey to the cloud in order to digitize quickly and effectively in the wake of COVID-19.
How the cloud has moved advanced analytics from exclusive to accessible
Blog Post
How the cloud has moved advanced analytics from exclusive to accessible
-
Harnessing the benefits of advanced analytics is easier than most traditional companies think. Three key commitments can help....
Deutsche Börse unlocks the benefits of moving to the cloud
Interview
Deutsche Börse unlocks the benefits of moving to the cloud
-
Businesses that approach their cloud migration from purely a cost angle are missing its full value. Deutsche Börse’s...
Unlocking business acceleration in a hybrid cloud world
Report
Unlocking business acceleration in a hybrid cloud world
-
Companies that have moved operations to the cloud still aren’t achieving the desired operational agility. A renewed focus...
Making a secure transition to the public cloud
Article
Making a secure transition to the public cloud
-
As enterprises scale up their use of the public cloud, they must rethink how they protect data and applications—and put...

Connect with Cloud by McKinsey

Contact Us