Yes, you heard me right. No, I’m not kidding, or being snarky, or playing on words.
I’ve been told many times about how The Cloud is the biggest opportunity that the IT channel has seen since (whatever), followed by some set of reasons why a particular product is going to blow up like Gmail. I bet you have heard this a few times, too.
Many are saying things like this, and many more are listening. Unfortunately, it’s simply inaccurate. And beyond being objectively inaccurate, it subjectively causes people to avert their attention away the real opportunity. That’s the travesty, because ignoring the real opportunity will hurt us all in the long run.
The Cloud is just a thing, a concept – it’s made up of 5 key characteristics, 3 delivery methods, and 2 deployment models. Even as NIST defines it, it’s just another way of delivering technology power, albeit a very cool and exciting one.
I believe that what people are trying to say when they say “the cloud is an opportunity” is that “the cloud is a great new thing that can help us capture more opportunities and make more money.”
Are we just missing the point here? We’re supposed to be helping our clients leverage technology to achieve their business goals, yet we’re almost obsessively focused on the technology itself.
Where’s the real opportunity that The Cloud can help you capture? Well, that depends. The specifics are going to vary, but in summary form,
Businesses have never needed technology more than they do today, and building out solutions in house or onsite, as well as supporting them over time, can be expensive and complex. Today, more businesses than ever are required to comply with legislated technology standards, want to enable remote and mobile workforces, and seek more agility and higher levels of efficiency. Many are facing conflicts because their legacy solutions weren’t designed to – and can’t – support those demands.
That’s what I call an opportunity – a question without an answer. A problem without a solution. A need that hasn’t been met. The Cloud just happens to be a technology that could provide the answer or solution.
It’s an all too common misunderstanding, but the good news is that it’s easy to right the ship. Join me Thursday afternoon at 2pm EDT for our live webcast to find out how:
Welcome to the Future of IT Service: Four Tough Questions Answered
The world of IT Services is changing, and fast. It can be tough to tell what’s real and what’s just hype. The good news is, it’s surprisingly easy to maintain your competitive advantage in the burgeoning Cloud Era, with just a couple of key skills. Join us to find out what they are. You’ll walk away from this webcast with a crystal-clear definition of Cloud Computing (no small feat in and of itself), a strong understanding of the business case for Cloud Computing in the small business space, and some highly effective talking points to leverage with your clients and prospects as your business begins its evolution to The Cloud.
To register go to: https://own.webex.com/own/j.php? ED=157886052&RG=1&UID=1202870632&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D
