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A Guardian Guide: How the Cloud helps SMEs

Last month The Guardian brought together a team of technical experts to talk all things Cloud. Technical officers and directors, the discussion was based on highlighting all the ways in which Cloud Computing benefits small business.

Here’s a roundup of the key points from the conversation;

  • Cloud computing is all about building on your existing business strategy. There’s a standard you extend to how your business operates. The Cloud and the IT people you work with to deliver it should not fall outside the grasp of this standard. Instead you need to be able to establish what the benefit is the Cloud will bring, and how you’re going to measure it.
  • The Cloud shouldn’t be time-intensive. It should be easy to start using and keep using.
  • The cost-effective nature of the technology is it’s biggest draw. If you feel you’re being charged too much look at what you’re getting and shop around.
  • Cloud providers store data in physical servers and storage locations, often around the world. It’s your data, and just because you’re working with a Cloud provider it doesn’t stop being your data (think of the analogy of hiring a safe deposit box). If you’re handling external data, e.g. a client’s, you’re still subject to the data Protection Act as you’re based in the UK (even if the data isn’t).
  • Start-ups go hand in hand with the Cloud. Both are flexible, good with innovation and eager to embrace change. A match made in heaven.
  • Always ask about security. It’s not the same as it was a decade ago and the focus on security and safety is keenly felt by Cloud providers. Always ask what their security measures are so you can be confident your data is safe.
  • The Cloud is scalable, meaning you don’t have to jump in with both feet. If you feel more comfortable start small and test a small part of the Cloud, perhaps for one project. Then if it suits you and your business scale up and see how it works.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Cut to the chase, why is the Cloud good for business?

Let’s begin by thinking about how your business works. Most businesses have a lot of data – files and folders – they have to access throughout the day. This might be finances, it could be creative work, client folders or an archive of previous projects. What the Cloud does, essentially is offers a network of remote servers so you can access those files through the internet. You can download them to use either directly onto your computer or onto a company server.

OK, you might be thinking, that sounds great but I can access these files right now. Why should I go through this upheaval to be able to do something I can do already?

The Cloud is all about allocating resources. It is easier, cheaper, safer and secure in the long-run to use a Cloud server to store your business data instead of a physical one in the corner of your office.

A server takes physical maintenance, in the same way any other bit of technology does. It can overheat, stop working properly, need a retune and all of that costs time and money. A cloud server is looked after by a cloud provider, removing the need for you – or for you to hire someone – who has to look after it.

There is also the issue of security. Data security does shift in terms of measures and expectations, it can’t operate in a bubble and whenever you use a server you’re plugging yourself into a wider community. Some of it is safe, some of it isn’t. Handing over responsibility to a Cloud provider means they can look after server maintenance as well as security updates. It means you know that your data is safe and you don’t need to worry about security updates yourself.

Have you planned in case the worst should happen? If disaster strikes and you lose all your data it can be difficult to hear someone say “you should have planned for that”. That’s why it’s a good idea to do it before the worst does come to the worst. A Cloud provider will have a disaster recovery plan in place, so that’s part of what you buy. It means that if you do lose your data you are up back and running with minimum loss of time and fuss.

I’m guessing you can already see why this might be cheaper. You don’t have to have staff whose sole responsibility it is to look after the server. Add into that the fact that you are using software as a service (it’s called SaaS) so you’re buying what you need with no bloat or technology that isn’t needed. That’s more cost-effective.

Linked in with this bespoke element is the idea of elasticity. You’re utilising services as and when you need them on a scale that suits you and your business. All you need is an internet connection so whether you’re using a mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop you can access the same information. If your firm is growing, expanding, migrating to a new place, or working with new clients in different locations, your Cloud service can expand to match. And if you’re being honest, that’s all your business needs.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 9th, 2013 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

So, everyone has the Cloud now, yeah?

Irish Cloud experts have some news. They’ve been talking to businesses and they think the Cloud has reached a tipping point.

A survey by IT industry mag Irish Computer asked Cloud and IT re-sellers in the Emerald Isle about what their customers were asking about and what they were buying. They discovered that 85% said they’d had people asking them about the Cloud, and more importantly, asking whether they should be using it. Over the next twelve months, the same re-sellers said they believed there would be an 87% increase in interest and inquiries, so the same level again.

The shift is coming from IT companies as well as Cloud re-sellers and hosted exchange re-sellers. Three quarters of them say they have a cloud option that customers can sign up for. Half of the IT firms that don’t have a cloud option they can sell on are now actively looking for one.

The survey might only be a small chunk of the European business market but it illustrates that, at least in the IT industry, the growth in the Cloud and how it is changing the industry. Customers are reading about the Cloud, beginning to understand its benefits and how it might have a positive impact on the way they do business. Rapidly, the technology has become an important revenue stream for the IT industry, helping them show their customers how they might adapt and adopt the Cloud for their own operations. The beauty of the Cloud, especially SaaS (Software as a Service) is that it can be a bespoke integration so there is no need to buy bits of technology you don’t need.

There are concerns for IT workers, however. A fifth of them said they thought the Cloud might be a threat to their core business. They worry it could cannibalise their existing business.

Much of this concern comes from a lack of comprehension. When a new technology emerges there will be many customers who hear the new phrase, read about it without fully understanding it and call their IT re-seller to jump on board. While it’s good that they are reading about a new technology and want to see what the Cloud can do for them and their business it is easy to see why this approach might leave IT re-sellers concerned that it will takeover the rest of their business.

Instead, a better approach might be to offer a more streamlined and bespoke service. Many IT experts actually focus on one element of the sector, instead of knowing everything about everything. This expertise is what makes their knowledge in demand as they have something to offer what might be a niche audience, but a core and dedicated group. What these IT experts can do with the Cloud, therefore, is to adopt methods and tools that utilise the Cloud for their specific sector. Instead of letting the Cloud takeover their business, instead it becomes an extension of it.

As the Cloud emerges and its popularity grows it is inevitable that the second stage of adoption becomes the IT industry developing creative and innovative ways to sell the Cloud on. Instead of worrying that it will subsume their business, instead they should see it as an opportunity. Their customers are already asking about the Cloud, therefore IT re-sellers should do what they have become good at; adopting the technology so it fits their customers’ needs.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Want a job in IT? Look to the Cloud


For graduates, it’s a tough time to be taking their first steps into the jobs market. The global downturn means fewer companies are hiring or creating new jobs. Entry level positions, usually taken up by those just leaving university or college, they have been hit the hardest.

The take up of the Cloud and Hosted Exchange could offer a glimmer of light and also offers an opportunity for graduates to make themselves more attractive to prospective employers and gain a new skill. The workplace is shifting with the adoption of the cloud and graduates could find themselves at the forefront of a change in culture, which if they understand the implications and how it works, can make employers more likely to offer them a position.

The takeup of Cloud Computing by companies since 2011 has more than doubled. It means that there is a shift in the way businesses are working and their IT infrastructure is changing.

There is a greater reliance on cloud providers to provide IT software as a service, replacing the need for in house infrastructure. Whether Exchange email hosting, or Sharepoint, cloud computing is allowing more businesses to adopt a bespoke approach to their IT, changing the way they communicate with staff and clients, or how they share and use applications or integrate devices.

How does this affect graduates? There is a benefit to joining a company when a technology is new or emerging. Learning how Cloud computing works – the different applications and approaches on offer – so that they understand how the working practices are changing. Practically, graduates should understand how the infrastructure and hardware works. They should also have a grasp of the benefits of adopting and using the cloud, how it affects people management and how skills are used within the company, especially when staff work remotely or on the move. Lastly understanding the security implications are vitally important, because they are such a concern to firms. Businesses are aware of the risks posed by virus, spam and malware. If graduates understand that and the concerns of their prospective employer it is much easier for them to adopt and adapt the technology accordingly.

The jobs market is a difficult place to be right now, but graduates are fortunate in that cloud computing is just emerging and it offers them an opportunity. If they learn how it works and understand it then they stand themselves in good stead with a company looking to adopt the new software or who have just recently changed their infrastructure. It shows they are ahead of the game, comprehend the changing culture of work being offered by the cloud and how it shifts what workers are expected to do.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

The Cloud Fuels SME Growth


The last seven years have been fairly rocky for small businesses. Admittedly, they’ve been fairly rocky for a lot of people but the global recession with it’s inherent instability and lack of revenue raising has made it difficult for small businesses to grow and expand. For many it’s been hard to just stay afloat.

One thing that SMEs have focused on during this period is to look at the most cost-effective approaches to working. Increasing productivity as well as making the most of their staff and resources is what has enabled many SMEs to win new customers as well as working for existing ones, without having to move to larger premises for example, or hire more new staff.

A key approach has to find the right business tools, many of them cloud based, to help. Take for example  Hosted Exchange: access to documents wherever and whenever, shared contacts and calendars; it all helps keep a company connected without a huge outlay. SMEs are able to collaborate effectively across teams, to keep updated on what colleagues are working on to help manage workloads as well as working remotely should they need to.

SMEs usually grow from one idea. The focus is often on keeping costs down, particularly if it’s a business that helps them to be part of a wider supply chain and means they don’t need to invest in a large office space. From beauty brands to consultants, SMEs are adopting and adapting the cloud based technology that suits what they need to do.

Say a small manufacturer needs to communicate with sales consultants. SharePoint helps to communicate the latest products, their prices and enables the sales team to keep HQ updated as to what is selling well, keeping all the information in one central, easy to find space. It also means the sales teams can use the same facility to showcase the products to potential customers, allowing them to access the latest news and information about the newest goods available.

For consultants who may manage a portfolio of clients, being able to coordinate tasks and calendars with clients as well as any professionals they outsource work to helps to coordinate activity. Consultants often work on the move so remote access to hosted email means they can work on the go. Having multiple email addresses means they can mimic the operation of a wider company and even bring on short term staff as and when they need to for big projects.

It is no longer prohibitively expensive for a small firm to be able to operate like a multi national. Cloud based technology fuels the potential for flexible working, for using the tools that fit activity and an approach to working that fits. It is this that has helped small companies combat the downturn.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 at 12:13 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Got An Idea? Ask the Cloud For Help


How often do you see a celebrity on TV and think “I want to know where I can get that dress they’re wearing?” Very often, Shazam are hoping.

Idea LightbulbIf you’ve never heard of Shazam they are one of a new breed of creative companies who have taken the consumer by storm armed with nothing more than an app and a great idea. Launching six years ago their initial concept was simple: You know when you’re in a bar or you’re watching telly and a song comes on. You like it, or you know it from somewhere but you just don’t know who the singer is? Shazam helps that. Open the app, and click record. The app then tells you what the song is and who it’s by. It also provides a link so you can buy the song for yourself.

Now, Shazam has a new idea that builds on this successful principle. It wants to build on consumer habits and media engagement so if you want to know where a TV presenters dress, shoes or any other onscreen product they can. More than that, through Shazam you can transform your TV viewing experience, have access to the cast list of a the drama you’re watching, read the actors tweets and check out the script.

Being able to focus on innovation and growth is just one of the benefits of the Cloud. Shazam might not use cloud technology, we don’t know, but their creative contemporaries do because it allows them to do just this. They’ve identified a consumer need and trend and when developing the first app have had a really simple idea in mind. Flexibility is key so they have no hefty servers when they start up. They have the idea, design the app and host it on a Cloud server. They pay just for the hosting and design costs as they see their brand grow and make connections with other media brands. It allows them to focus on creating a great product.

As you grow and expand the cloud can grow with you. SaaS, or Software as a Service means that you adopt and adapt technology as and when you need it, relying on the infrastructure when it suits you, rather than it being constantly in the background draining resources. As you expand it’s easier to bring in more members of staff, based all over the world as you’re focusing on talent rather than location.

This flexible and bespoke approach allows you to focus on innovation and new ideas. You’re freeing up time. You aren’t managing IT and maintaining it – instead you can brainstorm and think about how your idea can go to the next level.

Creative companies like Shazam are benefiting from the cost-effective start-up costs offered by the Cloud. It’s flexible approach allows them to focus on having new ideas and to grow their business, rather than worry about how their server is working.

 

Image by shuttermonkey

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

The Superheroes of the Cloud


Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s my Cloud service.

There are unsung heroes in the Cloud. OK, they might not have cloaks, save cats from up trees but they are doing similar sterling work in protecting our servers from viruses and malware, helping to make business more flexible and helping free up time and resources for innovation.

Superheroes are part and parcel of popular culture, but while they’re flying through the clouds or swinging across urban landscapes its worth considering the heroes that are making our lives operate a little easier.

1. SaaS: The Superman of the Cloud

It’s a principle that Superman fights for; truth and justice. He’s also there when you need him, not taking up space in the corner of the office and draining resources; shout out of the window and Superman will appear through the clouds.

SaaS, or Software as a Service is “on-demand” Cloud software. Priced or a pay-by-use basis it allows businesses to get the benefits of the Cloud in a flexible way that suits their budgets and operation, rather than having to incorporate a new system wholesale, regardless of whether it suits you and your business. SaaS enables you to outsource your hardware and software meaning you use it only when you need it and it’s stored on the cloud provider’s server.

We don’t know if, when SaaS isn’t being used, it works at a local newspaper wearing thick black-rimmed glasses and operating under a pseudonym but you never know.

2. Virus and spam filters: Fighting criminals like Batman

If you’re a bad guy and Batman is around, just watch out. From the Joker to The Riddler Batman cleans up the streets of violence, lawlessness and the criminal mastermind.

You may think your inbox is a safe place to be but that’s because a lot of work is happening underneath the surface. Virus and spam filters check each email that is sent to you for malware or anything that might infect your inbox or computer. With Exchange hosting in the Cloud, this is important. If you’re giving responsibility over to a Cloud provider who want to ensure your property and data is safe. These filters help keep your inbox secure and safe. And just like Batman it doesn’t want to shout about the good work it’s doing.

3. Silicon Valley, tech city: It’s Captain America

Server farms, technological innovation, Silicon Valley, tech city; it’s so patriotic, so tied up in the Californian drive for innovation. So obviously it’s Captain America. The thing about Captain America is that is was a doggedly patriotic portrayal, designed to inspire rather than simply set an example. It’s the core principle that’s important, rather than the activity. At the heart of Cloud Computing is the approach of the industry’s pioneers; the internet is for sharing ideas, for being at the forefront of innovation and to focus on an idea that’s bespoke, rather than being pushed in a direction you don’t want to take.

4. Hosted Exchange: Iron Man

Tony Stark is a man that put his mind to greater things. OK, Iron Man might not always seem like a hero (neither does Tony Stark, to be honest) but he is the epitome of innovation, design and following a dream. And blowing stuff up.

You, hopefully, aren’t using Hosted Exchange to blow stuff up but it does represent taking control for how you want your business to run. Being able to encompass everyone and everything in terms of your business communication, helping people access it simply and easily wherever they are is pretty innovative. It helps any business, no matter their size, be coordinated and organised. It helps them to focus on the growth and the way they want to do it with a simply operating system. You might not run a conglomerate as big as Stark Industries but at least the spirit of entrepreneurship is at its core.

5. Flexibility enables equality: It’s Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman fights for justice, for peace, love and equality. What the Cloud offers any business is flexibility and it’s that that delivers true equality in the workplace. The way we work is changing. We have different times we need to get to the office, some want to work part time, some at funny hours; the Cloud enables and empowers us to do that, if our bosses agree.

This means that whether you’re a mum, a freelancer, a dad, a grandma, if you have other demands on your time, if you want to work regardless of geographical location then you can. You have the same access to all your work data either on your laptop, tablet or smartphone and it all looks the same. It means clients get the same level of work and communication and you don’t have to be tethered to your desk. That freedom means that you don’t have to subscribe to the traditional fifties approach to work i.e., show up at 9, work through until 5, never take time off. Wonder Woman would be proud.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 4th, 2013 at 9:50 am and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Why Google Reader is About How We Talk


Google’s decision to close its Reader service shows that not only is technology changing fast, but the way we use it is too.

CommunicationFewer and fewer people were using Google Reader, that is the reason behind the technology giant’s decision to close it’s RSS service. The firm is looking to streamline the products it has on offer and if one is being used by a smaller and smaller audience then, inevitably, it’s going to need less investment and have less of an impact in the long term; cut it off before it loses all of it’s audience.

Google Reader is a sign of how we used the internet in 2005, and how things have changed. Pre-social network platforms, many relied on RSS or Really Simple Syndication, to communicate their news and keep up to date with others. You could subscribe to different feeds, pick and choose what you wanted to stay up to date with and for developers, it gave them a platform to incorporate into their websites.

Sound familiar? If we want to keep up to date with news, websites and blogs now we use email subscription – an e-newsletter – or we prefer a social networking platform like Twitter, Digg, Facebook or Quora.

News of Google Reader’s demise has already led to the setup of a petition. It says the firm has put less and less investment into the service because it wants to push people towards its social platform Google+. users can download their Reader archive in the new service Google Takeout.

Whatever the debate on the whys and wherefores of the demise of Google Reader, it is interesting to consider how names we used frequently and seemed would never disappear eventually start to fall by the wayside. Even Twitter, which seems almost ubiquitous in terms of e-communication, will eventually drop off in profile and become less significant – eventually being closed.

It is because, as new technology is launched we adapt our communications to fit it? Hosted Email services, of course, have changed how we communicate, increasingly relying on text based forms of communication to comply with it. For example, companies implementing hosted Exchange has in turn has changed how businesses use handheld devices and mobiles which means more energy is put into typing and integration with images and documents. As we focus more on web, we start to want to share our ideas and what we’re writing with other people. RSS was ideal for that as we could subscribe to ideas, articles and writers that appealed to us. It’s like a bookmarking service allowing us to cut through the bits and pieces we like, ignoring the bits we don’t.

The growth of Cloud computing has changed that. It has allowed every user to have the same experience whatever the OS, device or platform they’re using. For the development of social networks this has been vital. A simple piece of code allows us to share ideas or group them using a hashtag. It’s easier for us to create our own profiles, directing people to our websites and a wider portfolio of work incorporating video, text and images instead of just an article.

If we look at the differences between Google Reader and Google + they epitomise just that. Google + – while a bit rough around the edges and feeling a lot, at the moment, like being the first people at a party in a big room – allows people to connect with like minded people, to create circles and to share information with them. The onus is much more on community, rather than just information. This shift has been in levels of interaction, rather than just putting information out there.

It is always a jolt when a piece of technology we’ve been used to or used daily becomes obsolete. It makes us feel that the way in which we’ve been sharing ideas and communicating is obsolete too. In fact it’s all about regeneration and moving forward. Our focus changes, depending on what technology is available and how we want to communicate. The key is to know what’s coming next.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 26th, 2013 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Cloud Email. Ten Things to Know.


You’re moving your email to the Cloud? These are the things you need to know.

Cloud PluginEmail is probably the first piece of technology you associate with the Cloud. Think of Gmail, Hosted Exchange, Outlook; these are all cloud based systems we understand. One of the reasons it’s so popular is that it’s quick and easy to set up.

Easy doesn’t mean you don’t need to think about it, however. You need to decide the service or platform you want to use as well as the questions and queries you should be putting to the provider to make sure the service you’re getting is as safe and secure as it can be.

1. Spam. Spam is as old as email and it can still do real damage to your computer as well as your inbox. A cloud email service needs to have a robust spam protections filter. This means that all your emails are routinely scanned to make sure no viruses or malware is getting through that could harm any of your data. It needs to be able to read both the content and the subject box.

2. Syncing your directory. The first time you saw this it looked like magic but now it’s so ubiquitous any provider that doesn’t offer it is doing a real disservice. For most companies email is their primary means of communication. You need a directory that is set up for every email account in the company, making it easier and more hassle free for you to stay in touch with each other. It’s all about user satisfaction, rather than anything else.

3. Geography and data storage. Not every company is just based in one place – many now operate in several different locations and they need to be able to take their technology with them and have it work as clearly and easily no matter where they are based. You don’t want a delay when you’re speaking to each other and you want to look and store data consistently across the company. This means asking about global load balancing and cache replication.

4. Contacts, Calendars and dates. Email in the Cloud is often much more than just a communication device. You’ll often use it to plan and book in meetings, electronically sourcing and storing the invite in your calendar. A provider should be able to help integrate this service into your day to day operation, making it much easier and hassle free.

5. What you get for your money. Many Cloud Email platforms are free, but you get what you pay for. Free versions might be enticing but you still get a lot of adverts and in many cases a system that “kinda works”. You can’t rely on “kindas”. Understanding what you get for your monthly rate is important, as is the added costs and how they might rise and escalate.

6. What’s on the desktop? Working online and offline, incorporating a note taker, an Excel client or picture editor you need to work out what you’ll need to integrate on your desktop with your email. Also work out what you can afford to train your staff to re-use, particularly if they have an established way of working. You don’t want to change it for the sake of shaving a few pounds here and there.

7. POP, IMAP. You want a secure connection between you and your client. Using Pop, IMAP or SSL provides that working with a desktop client and will allow you to work offline. Work out which works best for you as they vary in terms of features and access.

8. Smartphone. Increasingly we don’t just check our email on our computer but on our smartphones as well. Make sure this integration is easily done and doesn’t incur huge extra costs. Then the next step is to worry about how you stop your staff working 24/7, if you’re a good boss that is.

9. Security. You might not want to buy everyone in the office a BlackBerry but still want them to access their email on their own device. Security becomes an issue here as it has to be safe and to protect your data while making it as user-friendly for the employee as possible.

10. More security. So good you need to think about it twice. It’s important for external devices being plugged into your server but also in terms of access. WebMail for example, do you want one log in or a multi faceted authentication process? It’s something you need to think about if you want to keep your businesses’ data and information as safe and secure as possible.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 19th, 2013 at 11:54 am and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

The Cloud’s About How You Work, Not How Cheap it is


The Cloud isn’t a new piece of kit any longer. Giacom’s prediction for services like Exchange hosting at the end of 2012 was that while the past twelve months were spent educating people and introducing them to the new technology, the next twelve would be about take up and innovation.

When you’re selling something for the first time, the tendency can be to focus on cost rather than innovation. It’s understandable. Cost is obviously the easy way of grabbing attention, especially when business budgets are being cut across the board, in IT as well as everything else.

The problem with this introduction means it can leave people thinking about the cost-effectiveness of the Cloud and nothing else. The importance, if take up is to be increased, is to focus on how the Cloud can encourage a sea-change in attitude and mentality within staff and managers. It elevates the importance of innovation; of working new ideas and technology into day to day practice which can help a business to become more risk-taking and ambitious.

There are a lot of demands on an IT department and the Cloud can help. For example during the course of the recession, budgets have pretty much been on a downward trajectory while the expectation of workers has increased. 24 hour working, constant connectivity, focusing on a lot of different techniques and practice instead of having one specialty. Deadlines are shorter, more needs to be packed into a shorter space of time. Our IT is probably as exhausted as we are.

The opportunity here is to help make this a more streamlined and flexible way of working. Whether it’s Hosted Exchange or Sharepoint is it about encouraging managers to find a technology solution that suits the way they want to work. It becomes more bespoke. This is the way to work in the digital age and it puts technology and the IT team in the enviable position of being able to drive forward innovation and ultimately growth for the company.

This is a fundamental shift, if you think about it and it opens the door to opportunity. The focus moves onto efficiency as IT becomes less about patching up holes and maintenance and more about sourcing solutions that suit growth and development. What do you do with that extra time? Find ways of reducing the time it takes work to get to the client? Focus on research? Think more about ideas for new products instead of fixing old ones? That’s where the money is, surely.

More and more businesses are bringing in specialists as and when they need them, instead of having everything developing from in-house. The infrastructure, therefore, doesn’t need to be running all the time but just when it’s needed.
What the Cloud offers is to make a business agile and flexible, prompting a shift that puts the focus on innovation instead of simple cost.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Laura Brown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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