A cloud by any other name
By Lisa Wolfe, WW SMB Marketing and Strategy Manager, HP
What do you call it? Cloud Services, as-a-service, SaaS or just plain good business. . .
A partner recently shared with me that his company had been delivering software-as-a-service or SaaS for years—they just did not know that is what you “called” it.
And that got me thinking: Did you know that small and midsize businesses are projected to be the biggest adopter of SaaS or cloud services? But you are probably—like my partner here—not thinking about what you call it as much as how “it” transforms your business, drives innovation and keeps you out in front of your competition—as well as keeping your month-to-month cash flow in line.
It’s not what you call it....it’s what you do with it.
You are probably not spending time thinking you will consume cloud services or SaaS or be part of the big statistic machine projecting your adoption. Instead you are looking for the most cost-effective, secure way to deliver IT—and that may mean bringing in one, two or three services over the Internet at a low flat monthly payment without adding IT staff. So you can pay for it out of your operating expense budget instead of your already locked-in capital or IT project budget set in stone at the beginning of the year.
And you probably call this getting the best deal for your company while keeping your cash flow in line.
In five years you may look back and say: We've been using the cloud for years. We just did not know that is what you called it!
Where does your company stand with cloud computing—or whatever you call it? Please share your observations and questions.
