How Cloud is Changing the Way Businesses Work

A recent study from KPMG shows that the adoption of cloud technology, including use of cloud servers, is changing the way that business is conducted by affecting the basic approach of business concepts. Not surprisingly, four out of five businesses were shown to have been affected by this new technology by having moved some of their business needs to the cloud. If they had not already moved parts of their business to cloud servers, they were in the planning stages of doing so. One in ten companies interviewed for the report said that they had made the decision to move their core business functions to remote cloud servers. When discussing what factors were the primary drivers to make these changes, three out of four companies said that the ability to save costs was the most important reason for the move to the cloud. When asked to comment on the significance of the findings, KPMG’s head of technology Tudor Aw said, “What the survey shows is that ‘cloud’ is becoming more of a business and not just a technology conversation.” He went on to point out the economic realities and how they are affecting this change. “In these harsh economic times, cloud computing should be considered by all companies that strive to reduce costs." With the growing interest in not only moving daily functions to the cloud but the core business as well, any business that does not make the change to cloud technology may soon find that they are not only losing the competitive edge but are going to find the cloud a necessity for conducting business. There are many examples of how businesses have used the move to the cloud to cut costs, improve their core business and achieve their goals. Here are just a few: Seattle University – They made the decision to decrease operating costs, prolong the desktop lifecycle and put all of the labs onto one software program. This move would synch the entire lab system by converting twenty campus computer labs and over 1500 desktop computers to virtual desktops linked by a cloud server. The end result was faster response times to students, teachers and faculty. It also was instrumental in helping to meet the universities educational and administrative needs. Germany – A German service provider uses cloud servers to connect churches and public sector organizations in a multitenant cloud. This enables them to deliver business applications to their end users which can number in the millions. By providing this cloud server to their customers, the service provider can scale the need for resources based on the demands of their client and bring new services to that client base in a timelier manner. Georgetown University – This Washington D.C. University has a tradition of serving the legal needs of a wide ranging group of students. The recent conversion to a cloud server has made it possible for the law school to extend its classrooms out to remote locations. In addition, it has also created continuity for businesses in the event of a disaster. Cloud computing has many solutions in many complex ways. Every organization is different and has different challenges and needs that can be met in a variety of ways and with a range of cloud solutions. The goal is to go beyond the complexities, engage with cloud service providers, customers and users to find the cloud server model that suits them best. Every journey must begin with a set of simple decisions, and the journey to the cloud is no different. The cloud is changing the way many businesses work, and with the right planning it is changing them for the better. Our newsletters and blogs are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. We invite you to engage in our online community by following us on Twitter @GMOCloud and 'Liking' us on Facebook.