Over the last several years, cloud has become a vital component of technology estates geared to reducing costs, visualizing operations, leveraging the industrial internet of things (IIoT), and delivering a quality digital experience in an increasingly competitive labor market.
The Manufacturing industry turned to the cloud early, and according to an in-depth by Frost Sullivan, that trend is only increasing. Industry-wide, nearly 50 percent of workloads are currently hosted in the cloud, with that number expected to rise to over 53 percent by 2025.
Cloud’s inherent properties of scalability, high availability, and elasticity have made it central to manufacturers’ efforts to optimize their businesses. From navigating changes in the supply chain to understanding the consumer demands that drive your customers’ needs, cloud allows you to leverage your data in the most meaningful ways.
Today, as industry leaders discover ways to use data to reimagine their operations, the agility offered by cloud environments presents perhaps the most compelling benefit. According to Frost & Sullivan, connected devices are growing at a rate of 15.5 percent per year, and the cloud’s agility allows manufacturers to use data from those devices intelligently to power smart manufacturing and agile factory initiatives.
That’s why 45 percent of manufacturers use Microsoft Azure to run their cloud operations; 62 percent selected Azure for its functionality and tools, which simplify artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics projects, allowing more efficient experimentation and innovation.
Just as importantly, Azure provides powerful solutions to protect data across both cloud and on-premises environments. Through always-up-to-date threat detection and security services, Azure enables and improves security across the entire technology estate.
Getting started in the cloud comes down to migration and modernization—two options that are often highly integrated.
Migration is the process of moving data and resources from on-premises to cloud environments, allowing you to take full advantage of an elastic, scalable, cost-effective infrastructure. Modernization is the process of improving legacy applications to optimize your business’s performance in the cloud.
Throughout migration and modernization, manufacturers also need to continue to manage existing infrastructure and sustain the ability to support diverse technologies. This requires the flexibility of hybrid and multicloud services, which allow you to manage both cloud and on-premises estates and legacy applications.
Azure was built to support this flexibility. Through advanced data management and protection tools, you’re able to manage resources seamlessly, with consistent management and governance controls across both cloud and on-premises resources.
Once in the cloud, you’ll be able to leverage its benefits further to improve shop floor efficiency, use data to drive critical decision-making, and achieve a number of other digital outcomes. Frost & Sullivan’s study showed that top digital priorities for manufacturers include:
With Azure, manufacturers have been able to leverage cloud, data, and AI to dramatically increase margin, operating income, and net income on revenue. By actualizing your data estate as a strategic asset, you’ll be able to drive efficiency, improve accuracy, and empower quality decision-making through heightened visibility.
The many benefits of cloud are driving a digital transformation in Manufacturing. The traditional push supply chain is evolving rapidly to a data-driven model that allows factories to respond to demand in almost real time. To support that change, 57 percent of manufacturers are modernizing their own data centers and 55 percent are expanding their hybrid cloud/multicloud environment.
For example, Johnson & Johnson’s expanding partnership with Microsoft has driven its digital transformation. Initially selected for its ability to scale solutions to meet the needs of one of the world’s largest companies, Microsoft’s cloud services and expertise in diverse technologies, edge devices, IoT, machine learning (ML), and AI have enabled J&J to successfully transform into a digitally driven manufacturer.
Key to this transformation has been the Azure Stack, where J&J deposits petabytes of data drawn from its suppliers, the marketplace, its IoT-connected machines, edge devices, and other sources—even social networks. Using ML and AI allows the company to automate processes, such as scheduling machine maintenance on the shop floor or responding to hiccups in the supply chain. As a result, operations can be more proactive, avoiding costly delays.
Using cloud to store and analyze data also gives the business greater visibility into what’s happening in the supply chain, manufacturing facilities, and the marketplace. That visibility drives transformation at every level—improving job performance for shop workers, tuning production volumes to align with demand and significantly reducing manufacturing defects.
Intwo makes it easy for manufacturing companies to begin or continue their digital transformation with the cloud. Comprehensive resources and guidance make planning and executing cloud migration and modernization strategies easier. Talk to us about your cloud vision and let us help you get started.
Manufacturing companies are moving to the cloud because traditional on-premises systems can no longer keep up with the speed and complexity of modern operations. Cloud platforms like Azure provide the scalability, flexibility, and advanced tools manufacturers need to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and make better data-driven decisions. With supply chains becoming more demand-driven and production processes more connected, cloud technology gives manufacturers the ability to respond in near real time. That is why 45% of manufacturers already use Microsoft Azure to run their cloud operations.
Cloud migration is the process of moving your existing data, applications, and workloads from on-premises servers to a cloud environment like Azure. Modernization goes a step further by improving or rebuilding those legacy applications so they perform better in the cloud. In many cases, the two are highly interconnected. You might migrate some systems as they are for speed, while modernizing others to take full advantage of cloud-native features like auto-scaling, AI, and advanced analytics. The right approach depends on each application’s complexity and business value.
According to a Frost and Sullivan study, 62%of manufacturers selected Azure because of its functionality and tools that simplify AI and advanced analytics projects. Azure also integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products like Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365, which many manufacturers already use. Its built-in security and compliance capabilities protect data across both cloud and on-premises environments. Azure’s hybrid and multicloud flexibility is especially valuable for manufacturers who need to manage diverse technologies and legacy systems alongside modern cloud workloads.
Research from Frost and Sullivan shows that 81% of manufacturers prioritize improving business process efficiency and quality. Close behind, 80 percent want to deliver products, services, and applications faster. Other key priorities include strengthening security, enabling data-driven decision-making, and modernizing supply chain operations. Cloud technology addresses all of these by providing scalable infrastructure, real-time data access, advanced analytics, and AI capabilities that help manufacturers operate smarter and respond faster to changing market conditions.
Many manufacturers cannot move everything to the cloud at once. They still rely on on-premises systems, legacy applications, and equipment that needs to stay local. Azure was built to support this reality through hybrid and multicloud services. Tools like Azure Arc let you manage both cloud and on-premises resources from a single control plane with consistent governance and security policies. This means you can modernize at your own pace without having to abandon existing infrastructure, and your IT team gets unified visibility across the entire technology estate.
Once manufacturers move to the cloud, they can connect shop floor equipment and IoT sensors to Azure and collect production data in real time. This data can be analyzed using AI and advanced analytics to identify bottlenecks, predict equipment failures, optimize production schedules, and reduce waste. Instead of relying on manual reports or outdated spreadsheets, teams get live dashboards that show exactly what is happening on the floor. This level of visibility helps manufacturing leaders make faster, more informed decisions that directly improve output and reduce downtime.
Azure provides a suite of AI and machine learning tools that manufacturers can use without building everything from scratch. Services like Azure Machine Learning, Azure AI, and Power BI allow you to build predictive maintenance models, forecast demand, optimize supply chains, and analyze quality data. Because Azure handles the compute-heavy processing in the cloud, even manufacturers without large data science teams can experiment with AI. The platform also integrates with Dynamics 365, making it easy to embed intelligence directly into your ERP and business workflows.
Azure provides always up-to-date threat detection and security services that protect your data across both cloud and on-premises environments. This includes encryption, identity and access management, advanced threat protection, and compliance with global industry standards. During migration, data is encrypted in transit to prevent exposure. After migration, Azure continuously monitors your environment for vulnerabilities and suspicious activity. For manufacturers handling sensitive intellectual property, customer data, or regulated information, Azure’s layered security approach ensures your data is protected at every stage.
Companies like Johnson &Johnson have partnered with Microsoft to drive their digital transformation using Azure cloud services. By leveraging cloud, data, and AI, manufacturers have been able to increase margins, improve operating income, and boost net revenue. The shift from traditional push supply chains to data-driven demand models has allowed factories to respond to market changes in near real time. These results show that cloud migration is not just a technology upgrade. It is a strategic move that directly impacts the bottom line for manufacturing businesses.
Intwo has over 20 years of experience serving the manufacturing industry with tailored cloud solutions. We help manufacturers assess their current IT environment, plan a migration strategy, and execute the move to Azure with minimal disruption. Intwo also provides ongoing managed services, including monitoring, security, cost optimization, and support for hybrid environments. Our experience with companies like Bosch, Siemens, and Scandinavian Tobacco Group means we understand the unique challenges manufacturers face and can deliver solutions that drive real operational improvements from day one.
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