Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), the biggest user of the cloud for business in the world is looking at having more of its IT and IT applications in the cloud. The company’s timeline is in the course of the next 12 to 18 months within which it expects to have obtained 90% of its goal. The company already hosts more than 260,000 people given that it is the biggest user of Office 365 in the world.

Some of the software-as-a-service (SaaS) resolution the company is currently using includes Salesforce, which is primarily for sales management.

Cloud is becoming a foundational technology for many businesses

Despite the fact that it is a new practice and technology, the cloud has been embraced by both small and large enterprises. Cloud lead Andre Conti refers to it as an ice cream, which comes in different flavors.

He quotes, “There are different scenarios, but the cloud is becoming one of the foundational technologies that enable…..projects and programs to come alive at a very low cost.”

Conti outlines the achieved migration of close to 60% of the company’s full IT infrastructure and as well as its applications to the cloud. Its interest is not just in upgrading particular technologies but in a new look into how organizations carry out their operations. At this point, Conti will take up advisory roles in helping organizations seeking to shift to the cloud.

Replacement of legacy infrastructure with a cloud-only investment

For a very long time, there have been concerns about moving critical data to the cloud. Conti tags legacy infrastructure as the main contribution to the slow pace but this is likely to be in the past. The existing infrastructure is now being substituted with a cloud-first investment.

Cloud is not only cost-effective but it also enables organizations to be more agile in their delivery of innovation. The application is across the board even for those businesses, which are at the beginning of their journey. This demonstrates the strength of any business case, innovation being a key driving factor to success.

In the meantime, Accenture’s stock was trading at $16.08 a fall of $-0.55 or -0.47%