BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India
Within a few years of its establishment in 2010 by four young engineers in Pune, India, BlazeClan Technologies had prospered as a cloud solutions delivery company by providing true value to its customers in India and around the world. By 2014, though, the company was facing a long and slow sales cycle in the Indian market where businesses were hesitant to give up in-house data control to the cloud. Though the company invested a lot of marketing dollars in educating this potential segment through events, webinars, social media campaigns and talks at important industry forums, the customer base was not building and market penetration was not gaining ground. The momentum that was badly needed to push cloud adoption to the next level was also affected by external factors, such as the availability of the Internet, regular service outages leading to network disruptions, resistance to change and unclear licensing issues. The company worked hard to reduce these fears, but it had a number of decisions to make to go forward. Easwar Krishna Iyer is affiliated with Greatlakes Institute of Management. Jayanthi Ranjan is affiliated with Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.
Swot Analysis of "BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India" written by Easwar Krishna Iyer, Jayanthi Ranjan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cloud Blazeclan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cloud Blazeclan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cloud Blazeclan operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cloud Blazeclan
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cloud Blazeclan
Strengths BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cloud Blazeclan in BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cloud Blazeclan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cloud Blazeclan has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cloud Blazeclan has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cloud Blazeclan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cloud Blazeclan has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Strong track record of project management
– Cloud Blazeclan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cloud Blazeclan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cloud Blazeclan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Cloud Blazeclan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cloud Blazeclan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Cloud Blazeclan is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Cloud Blazeclan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Cloud Blazeclan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cloud Blazeclan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cloud Blazeclan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Training and development
– Cloud Blazeclan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cloud Blazeclan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cloud Blazeclan has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Cloud Blazeclan even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India HBR case study mentions - Cloud Blazeclan takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cloud Blazeclan has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Easwar Krishna Iyer, Jayanthi Ranjan suggests that, Cloud Blazeclan is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Cloud Blazeclan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cloud Blazeclan is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Cloud Blazeclan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cloud Blazeclan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cloud Blazeclan 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cloud Blazeclan has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cloud Blazeclan needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Opportunities BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cloud Blazeclan to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Cloud Blazeclan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Cloud Blazeclan to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Manufacturing automation
– Cloud Blazeclan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cloud Blazeclan can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Cloud Blazeclan can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cloud Blazeclan can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Loyalty marketing
– Cloud Blazeclan has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Cloud Blazeclan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cloud Blazeclan to increase its market reach. Cloud Blazeclan will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cloud Blazeclan has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cloud Blazeclan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cloud Blazeclan can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Technology & Operations segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cloud Blazeclan to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cloud Blazeclan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cloud Blazeclan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India are -
Increasing wage structure of Cloud Blazeclan
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Cloud Blazeclan.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cloud Blazeclan is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cloud Blazeclan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Cloud Blazeclan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Environmental challenges
– Cloud Blazeclan needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Cloud Blazeclan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cloud Blazeclan high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cloud Blazeclan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cloud Blazeclan can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cloud Blazeclan can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India .
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Cloud Blazeclan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Cloud Blazeclan needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of BlazeClan Technologies: Cloud Computing Adoption in India is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Cloud Blazeclan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.