CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version
Adam Famularo, general manager, Cloud Computing business, CA Technologies, and David Dobson, WVP and group executive, Customer Solutions Group, were preparing for a presentation on communicating and positioning CA Technologies' new strategy for cloud computing. Analysts had voiced concern over several 2010 acquisitions, and highlighted CA Technologies' need to clearly state its strategy and objectives and identify a compelling way to position and differentiate its cloud offerings. Industry pundits claimed the mainframe- CA Technologies' bread and butter- was dead and would go away. Famularo knew CA Technologies' line of products was anything but outdated, having evolved to help enterprises manage and secure their increasingly complex IT environments. In 2010, analysts reported that CA Technologies' mainframe business was strong and accounted for over 60% of the firm's revenues and a majority of its profits, with no sign of slowing down. But given the attractiveness of CA Technologies' current mainframe and distributed business lines, how firmly would the company back the emergent cloud business? Should CA Technologies' cloud business be positioned as an incremental, complementary addition to its mainframe and client-server businesses or should it be framed as a disruptive and entirely revolutionary technology?
Swot Analysis of "CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version" written by Marco Iansiti, Kerry Herman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ca Cloud facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ca Cloud, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ca Cloud 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ca Cloud
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ca Cloud
Strengths CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ca Cloud in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ca Cloud has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ca Cloud 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ca Cloud to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ca Cloud to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ca Cloud 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ca Cloud in the sector have low bargaining power. CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ca Cloud to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ca Cloud has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Ca Cloud is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Ca Cloud has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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.
High brand equity
– Ca Cloud has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ca Cloud to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Ca Cloud is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Ca Cloud is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Ca Cloud
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ca Cloud does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ca Cloud are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ca Cloud is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marco Iansiti, Kerry Herman suggests that, Ca Cloud 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 Ca Cloud has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ca Cloud 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ca Cloud is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ca Cloud needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ca Cloud to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ca Cloud 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. Ca Cloud 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ca Cloud, firm in the HBR case study CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 Ca Cloud 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ca Cloud products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ca Cloud needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ca Cloud 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Ca Cloud don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Opportunities CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version | 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ca Cloud can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ca Cloud can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ca Cloud 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ca Cloud 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ca Cloud 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ca Cloud to increase its market reach. Ca Cloud 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ca Cloud in the consumer business. Now Ca Cloud can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Ca Cloud can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ca Cloud can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Ca Cloud 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ca Cloud in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ca Cloud 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ca Cloud to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ca Cloud has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ca Cloud to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version case study. Ca Cloud can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ca Cloud can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Ca Cloud 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Ca Cloud will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ca Cloud 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version .
Environmental challenges
– Ca Cloud 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. Ca Cloud can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ca Cloud with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ca Cloud has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ca Cloud needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ca Cloud 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ca Cloud in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Ca Cloud.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version, Ca Cloud may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth, Spanish Version 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 Ca Cloud needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
