Cloud Computing-Business Revolution or Technology Innovation
Posted by Brad McMillan on Mon, Jan 03, 2011 @ 02:43 PM
Small businesses are the leading purchaser of cloud services primarily to avoid the high cost of IT departments but also to create efficiencies and level the playing field with larger enterprises. These businesses are leading the way and creating new models for how work gets done.
As we find our way into larger customers, we often meet with both Business Units and IT about our cloud computing model, Apps on Tap. They sit across the table and listen to our value proposition and are interested in all the new ‘cloud services’ available now. Finance loves the cost savings and no CAPEX component of our model and lines of business can see definite service improvements and faster time-to-market for their new initiatives.
However, the moment the ‘cloud’ is mentioned, the IT Manager tends to quickly raise objections and concerns with technology-enabled services over the internet. These objections may have some validity for a little while. But cloud will ultimately force wholesale change for IT, shifting the focus from technology delivery to service sourcing and consumption or a service-centric IT organization.
Keith John, at HP Software and Solutions, likens the childhood story of Chicken Little to that of the ‘cloud phenomena’ we are now experiencing and how cloud computing is forcing radical change for IT as we know it.
He sees the emerging cloud computing space as more of an enabler for business – it enables business users to source services that meet their needs quickly, at the right price, at a good enough service level, and without the help of an IT organization. The cloud is really more of a business revolution than a technology innovation.
Cloud computing is unique in that it offers businesses opportunities to solve existing problems in new ways or to solve problems not solvable up until now. As more cloud services materialize, businesses will not wait in line for IT projects to deliver them. Instead equipped with an Internet connection and a credit card they will be able to circumvent IT to get the desired results.
If history is any indication, these points are valid. In the early 1980’s business did an end run around IT departments and started using spreadsheets and niche applications on the desktop to satisfy their requirements.
Business is already reading about how cloud computing is impacting the bottom line of other organizations. They are always the first to visualize new opportunities and approaches but are typically “held hostage” by their IT department and the inherent latency of project driven processes to make anything happen.
People in business just want services. They want the right technology-enabled services that help them get their job done, and that help broaden their horizons into new opportunities.