“We’re keepers of our own destiny”

Cloud is not a destination

Bull points out that the cloud is very different from how Elanco had been operating historically, which predominantly oriented around on-premises-based capabilities.

He says: “When operating on-premises, you are generally managing the end-to-end technology stack. The cloud is very different, including the financial model associated with it.

“I think one of the traps with cloud is to consider it a destination. Instead, it must be positioned as a shift in philosophy regarding how work gets done, with a focus on the business processes.”

“Cloud can only be cost-effective when the principles of a cloud-native architecture are embedded in everything you design, implement, and support. If you fail to adjust, you are likely to experience spiralling costs, which will quickly erode the wider value proposition and any anticipated return on investment.”

Bull points out that it's a continuous activity embedded with their product and project teams to ensure they’re managing their cloud workloads effectively - and scaling them appropriately to take advantage of cost-control mechanisms.

“Due to its complex nature, this is an area that requires a lot of focus and pre-planning.

Elanco’s most significant event in their nearly 70-year

History

which enabled them to rebuild the IT ecosystem from the ground up

“Wherever possible, we have built these foundational processes and standards into our automation because ultimately that's the best (maybe only) way to drive adherence at scale.”

From challenges to opportunities Bull says that for him, the most exciting aspect of this transformation is the opportunity it presents to deliver new value to customers through digital and data business models.

“Initially, as part of the corporate separation, the goal was simply to get to a position where Elanco could operate effectively and securely as a standalone organisation whilst continuing to meet our customers’ expectations.

“Things are not perfect, with processes that must continue to mature, but I feel we achieved the desired outcome and we're very proud of the achievement. The are I get most excited about is the next wave of innovation that these capabilities can now unlock.

“I absolutely think the modern foundations we have established are a market differentiator that presents us with an ability to go after emerging digital and data business models.

“We are now able to move with speed, bringing new capabilities to our customers. It all comes back to the customer and the innovation we can unlock.”

Elanco’s partner ecosystem

Elanco, like many large enterprises, has a broad partner ecosystem.

“Our goal is to try to find partners with complimentary purpose and values,” Bull says. “There are some I would call out that have really helped us on this journey.”

WinWire’s Cloud-expertise

“First and foremost, I would recognise WinWire, an organisation that brings a wealth of application and data expertise to the table. The sheer scale of the work over the past few years is beyond anything I have experienced in my career. There was a huge amount we needed to learn, and frankly, it would've been unrealistic for our teams to succeed within the aggressively defined timelines.

“We brought in WinWire, and they came with the cloud, application and data expertise we needed.

“The uniqueness of that relationship was WinWire engaged as a partner, focused on the Elanco business outcome, which goes above and beyond a traditional clientvendor relationship.

“WinWire's team operated on the ground, as an embedded part of our product and project teams. They brought specific expertise, right-sized for the job - expertise that Elanco simply didn't have access to at the time.

“They also brought horsepower and an ability to scale up where needed, to drive towards our outcomes and deadlines.”

He says the other piece WinWire brought was helping Elanco implement and buildout the automation stack.

“A big part of our automation stack was the creation of predefined patterns that align with the workloads that we most commonly use across Elanco,” he says. “WinWire completed an application and data dependency exercise to ensure the goal was clearly defined. They then supported the design and delivery of the patterns, treating them as products of their own. Our product and project teams use these patterns as the consistent starting point for all digital/data workloads.”

HashiCorp Terraform

Another of Elanco’s key partners was HashiCorp, who, Bull says, brought a host of forward-looking, open-source technologies to the table.

“We have positioned HashiCorp Terraform as our infrastructure-as-code software tool, standardising how we design and deliver solutions,” Bull says.

“The advantage of Terraform is that it directly enables our Hybrid Multi-Cloud strategy.

“We believe the future is Hybrid MultiCloud, providing a flexible foundation to meet our regulatory and compliance requirements alongside our innovation expectations.

“The challenge, of course, is how do you support and scale Hybrid Multi-Cloud effectively?

“That is where Terraform and the associated HashiCorp technologies, which are predominantly cloud-agnostic, have made a big difference.

“Terraform enables us to programmatically define a set of controls built from our policies, directives and standards. These controls can then be provisioned across different hosting environments as needed.”

“Additionally, we're managing a single codebase for each of the automation patterns.

“It brings the ability to support at scale and the obvious benefit of cost optimisation by only building things once and having a consistent skillset.”

“Last but not least,” says Bull, “by ensuring key quality, privacy and security controls are programmatically defined and proactively enforced, Elanco can easily verify the architecture meets all compliance obligations.”

Future opportunity

A standalone Elanco ensures “we are keepers of our own destiny,” says Bull. “The next exciting phase for Elanco is to unlock innovation for our customers around the world.”

“I see tremendous opportunity in our future with a focus on digital and data business models.

“Whether we're looking across pet or farm - both with a unique set of challenges, I think these markets are primed for a digital revolution.

“I'm incredibly excited about Elanco's leadership role within this transformation, and I believe the foundations we've established will act as a competitive advantage for years to come.”