Educating you on the benefits and "how to" of integrating cloud computing with your business network.

Researchers Gartner Group and McKinsey & Company agree: cloud computing will be one of the defining trends of the next decade (we’d say “of the 21^st Century” but who knows what will be on the horizon in future decades!).   Google records 40,000+ news stories in 2010 on cloud computing.  Adoption of cloud applications, platforms and strategies is accelerating – one great example is the quintupling of Facebook users in the past two years.

SMBs face the challenge of growing – or even maintaining – revenues in struggling economic conditions and growing competitive environments while managing risk and costs.  Efficient and effective leveraging of technology – getting the greatest “bang for the buck” – is key to SMBs surviving and thriving in today’s economy.

Cash is king.  How can SMBs conserve cash and still get the tech toys they need to succeed?  Many SMBs are investigating ways to get this done – and are exploring the role cloud computing can play.  If you’re considering how best to stretch your IT dollars, consider some of what cloud computing offer SMBs:

1. Integrating new technologies without coughing up large up-front capital costs. Reducing CapEx helps SMBs grow faster while limiting their risk exposure.
2. Expanding  business more efficiently. Cloud computing helps to grow needed  infrastructure efficiently, allowing SMBs to spin up new services or ventures without taking as many resources from mission critical tasks.
3. Eliminating the need to manage servers, upgrade software and maintain your IT infrastructure.  Cloud computing frees financial and personnel resources otherwise committed to the care and feeding of IT infrastructures.
4. Enjoying greater flexibility and scalability of IT infrastructure – you can grow (and reduce) IT assets as needed without either cash outlay for new IT equipment or mothballing already-paid for IT assets.
5. On-demand technology – a kind of “pay-by-the-drink” use it when you need it approach.
6. Continuous innovation – as technology continues to evolve and upgrade, SMBs get the benefits of the “latest and greatest” without the cost of obsolescent IT assets..
7. Better collaboration. Most cloud tools are highly interactive, allowing your staff to work together on the Internet at any time.
8. Increased productivity and focus. Your staff focuses on the main production goals of your business, rather than being slowed and distracted by ineffective IT tools and resources – or by becoming “shade tree mechanics” trying to fix their IT problems.
9. Reduced risk – you don’t own it or maintain it.  If it breaks or if it becomes obsolete, it’s someone else’s problem to fix or replace.
10. Trading CapEx for OpEx – SMBs, whether cash-strapped or simply ill-equipped for the level of budgeting and strategizing necessary when owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, trade the ups and downs of capital expenditures for more even and steady operating expenses associated with a monthly fee-based cloud computing solution.

Wall Street news recently has been full of M&A activity among tech firms large and small as the impact of cloud computing has become evident.  HP and Dell are in a bidding war for cloud computing firm 3Par.  CA Technologies today announced a $200 acquisition of cloud computing firm Arcot Systems, bringing their June 2009-to-present spending spree to a billion dollars and change.

But what does that mean on Main Street?  Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are implementing cloud computing in significant numbers.  While some are opting for an “all-in” approach, other SMBs are looking at various “hybrid” options.

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While the article cites some cases in which SMBs are opting to keep a portion of their IT assets in-house, a strong case can be made for a “hybrid” or “local” cloud computing approach that benefits from the cost efficiencies of owning few – if any – IT assets and partnering with a trusted IT provider that owns, manages and maintains the SMB’s IT assets behind their own firewall.

Or so says a recent article in Business News Daily.  Close to 4 out of 10 businesses with fewer than 20 employees use cloud computing solutions or plan to in the next 6 months.

Cloud computing provides firms the flexibility and economic advantages of storing data, accessing software applications, even hosting entire network infrastructures, without purchasing or maintaining the necessary software and hardware.  Costs stay lower – an important benefit for cash-strapped small businesses or simply those wishing to reduce operational costs in the current economy.

This finding was part of a global survey of 1500 IT professionals at small- and medium-sized businesses.

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“Cloud computing will surpass the Internet in importance,” Georgetown University professor Mike Nelson told attendees of the World Future Society conference in Boston earlier this month.

Cloud computing will level the playing field for those with or without financial resources.  According to Nelson, cloud computing will allow developing nations to access resources once only available to affluent countries.  Similarly, small businesses will save money and capital expenditures by tapping cloud-based services and platforms – tapping resources previously monopolized by enterprise-level business.

The growing popularity of the Cloud is evident, as several recent surveys have pointed out.  The Pew Internet and American Life Project reports in their May 2010 survey update that 66% of people responding indicated they regularly use cloud computing, up from 10% in 2000, when the Project conducted its first survey on the subject.

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Microsoft’s Jim DuBois calls cloud computing a “once-in-a-20-year inflection point” for the IT industry – one that will fundamentally change IT and IT management.

Spurred by flexible architecture and scalability, cloud computing gives IT professionals capabilities to respond as never before to changing business demands.

Yet IT professionals will face challenges, reports the Australian’s Ian Grayson.  The cloud’s enticing prospects create management challenges for IT professionals who must keep their cloud-based architecture – and the potential for “server sprawl” – under control.  In fact, many industry experts say IT management will become key to organizations’ successful adoption of cloud computing.

The shift to the cloud seems inevitable for most companies.  It will greatly change the nature of how we “do” IT in the future and, points out Grayson, will necessitate “re-tooling” skill sets for many IT professionals.

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