There is no doubt that cloud-computing technology is
rapidly evolving. Looking back 12 to 24
months, the industry and our customers were posing the question, “What is cloud
computing and will it last?” There is no doubt that our industry has accepted
the fact that the cloud is here to stay. “How can cloud computing help my business?” has
now become the most frequently asked question. I am not going to focus on the issues
of the past, but rather provide my projections of what is to come in 2013. Prefacing this by saying that the focus of
these projections is based on my interactions with the Small and Medium
Business (SMB) market segment.
My predictions for the coming year point to further adoption of cloud computing
technology with two initiatives in mind:
- A desire
to move capital expenditure to operational expenditure
- A desire
to create revenue-impacting opportunity by leveraging technology
CAP-EX to OP-EX
Many executives in organizations understand that a move to
the cloud would result in a migration of substantial capital expenditure to
operational expenditure; however there can actually be a reduction of both
capital and operational expenditures by moving to the cloud. The “In-House” model requires CAP-EX, resulting
in the purchase of hardware and software, and re-investment of capital every 3
– 5 years to keep up with technology and remain competitive in the market.
The same applies in this model, requiring OP-EX in systems
administration, HR overhead, multi-vendor agreement management, etc.
When considering all of the operational expenditures
associated with the “In-House” model, executives are starting to realize that
the hidden treasure of moving to the cloud is not only in the transition from
CAP-EX to OP-EX, but also the potential to lower OP-EX. Therefore, reducing the inefficiency of
managing multiple vendors and the internal staff required to maintain and
optimize the CAP-EX investments in technology.
Leverage Cloud
Computing to Impact Revenue Generation
It goes without mentioning that a move to cloud computing
can help strengthen an organizations financial position, resulting in
opportunity to invest in other areas such as new products / services, marketing,
or expansion. For the sake of this
article, I would like to focus on cloud based communications solutions as an
opportunity to impact revenue generation.
These solutions would include unified communications with
presence technology, enterprise messaging, and mobile computing solutions. Enhancing the quality and speed of internal
and external communications can be a strong competitive opportunity for all
businesses. The faster we can move
through the business process while keeping quality in check; the faster revenue
is being generated, which is something all of us can get excited about.
An example of this would be presence technology. By using cloud based software, organizations
can have the ability to see the status of your teams and team members (online,
offline, on the phone, in a meeting, out to lunch, etc.) at a glance and in
real time. This can enhance the speed in
which your teams can get answers to questions, react to customers, communicate
with vendors, and ultimately get more done in less time resulting in greater
productivity. This is one of many
examples of how a cloud based technology can create a revenue-impacting
opportunity in a business without the need to purchase expensive software and
utilize internal resources to deploy the technology.
Conclusion
Nobody will argue that the cloud is going anywhere. With market indications of triple digit
percentage growth in the next 24 months, there is a great deal of opportunity
for businesses to benefit from this shift in computing. Since technology is always changing and
progressing, organizations that remain nimble enough to adopt the changing
technology concepts are in the best position to gain the competitive advantage
in their market place. Given these
projections, it is my opinion that we are moving past the point of early
adoption with cloud computing and if organizations are unwilling or unable to
adapt to the opportunity in front of them, they will soon be left in the tail
winds of their competition.
