Good question, and one that may be worth reassessing as the big IT companies refocus on delivering applications online through web browsers.
I spent a large chunk of last week at the Microsoft Partner Conference on the Gold Coast, which was a very pleasant time. Shame so much of it was indoors learning about the future of IT and not outside in the sun. Despite the lack of clouds in the sky, indoors the message was very clear – Microsoft is committing all of its development resources to building applications that run on massive servers on the internet, and do away with the need to have servers in the office. Their marketing slogan is "We are all in" sitting in a fluffy cloud image.
Large, efficient, centralised servers will offer all our regular applications, from the Office suite to email to financial applications and SQL databases – so, we just log in and use what we need from wherever we are. The tools are coming online now, and developers are writing applications as we speak. So, for basics like email, we can move right now, and there promises to be a flurry of new releases of online applications over the next 18 months.
So, what do I think about all of this? In short, I'm keen to see people begin to migrate their platforms in the direction of the cloud, as I see some distinct benefits for the growth businesses I work with. These benefits include:
- Total scalability from one person to 30,000 on one system, without ever having to worry about upgrading hardware.
- Price is 100% known as there is no support variables or hardware failures to cover.
- Instant upgrades without effort each time the software vendor releases an update.
- Access from anywhere without needing to build a complex network.
- Better security than small businesses can afford to buy.
- Backup looked after by the host.
- Disaster recovery no longer an issue.
But, what are the challenges with this new realm of technology?
As you guessed, there are many challenges ahead of us. This is what we call disruptive technology. The internal combustion engine was disruptive technology. Before that, we used horse and cart to get around. The motor carriage completely changed that realm of transport, even leading to aircraft capable of flying thousands of kilometres on engine-driven propellers. This put thousands of blacksmiths who fitted horseshoes out of business. There were good cars and bad cars built, but today the cars manufactured are pretty reliable devices that we have come to trust – and depend upon.
Similarly, I see a few years of confusion ahead as individuals struggle with a wide variety of choice for cloud-based solutions, both to replace the tools we use today and to supplement them.
Microsoft will have many competitors who appear to have the upper hand for awhile, but will invest billions to dominate the market place. Until there is a clear winner in each application space, there will be a high demand for guidance and support, as we will be faced with more choice than ever before – and many choices will lead to dead ends and bad investments.
I hope at the end of the upheaval we have found new and better ways to make use of computers, and feel the change was worth it. What I am seeing of new collaboration tools, and methods of sharing more complex information faster, leads me to believe it will be worth the struggle.
If you are considering the alternative cloud solutions on offer – and I firmly believe you should – do ask for help from people who work in the space with multiple clients and benefit from their experience. A move to cloud computing runs the risk of unexpected twists and turns, so you need an experienced advisor to keep these to a minimum.
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David Markus is the founder of Combo - the IT services company that ensures IT is never an impediment to growth.
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