Everywhere you turn, people are talking about “The Cloud.” But when you get beyond the hype, most cloud solutions offer little more than an alternative place to store your data. Although the cloud computing concept has been around since the 1960s, technology is finally catching up to the speed of business. Cloud computing technology can deploy solutions in days, not months. Employees can access information from virtually any device, from anywhere, at any time, in real time.
Are cloud-based services and solutions right for your business?
Now is the time to rethink the pace of change your company can take on; however, the business case for using cloud-based services is not always clear. It can be a dangerous business proposition to blindly adopt a cloud-based computing strategy without clearly defining the business benefits you expect to achieve. Successful cloud projects include an evaluation of each business application’s appropriateness for delivery as a cloud-based service.
With any type of business or technology investment, there are criteria that should be considered.
Does it increase revenue for your business?
Can you offer any new products and services with this new investment?
Will it help you increase revenue with your existing customers?
Does it extend your current product or service offering?
Will it decrease expenses for your organization?
Will it allow you to lower customer service costs?
Does it lower IT capital costs (i.e., equipment, hardware, etc.)?
Can it lower labor costs by moving tasks to customers?
Can it mitigate risk for yourself, your employees, your customers, your partners and/or your shareholders?
Does it lower the risk of focusing on the “wrong things”?
Can it lower your capital risk?
Many businesses can’t keep up with the challenges of today’s technologies and are simply spending all of their time and energy just maintaining their current environment. Think about what innovative ideas you could be implementing if you weren’t spending time simply maintaining your systems.
Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to cloud computing, but most businesses are using cloud technologies of some form. A recent IBM study of more than 500 business and technology executives worldwide showed the number of enterprises turning to cloud computing is expected to double by 2015. The company believes businesses that embrace the “transformative power of the cloud” will have a significant advantage in the race to introduce new products and services and capture new markets and revenue streams.
With all the options available in cloud computing today, the cloud may be right for your business. It could help you increase revenue, decrease expenses and mitigate risk.