Heath Brownsworth

A Brief Perspective

As we move further into 2011, interest in “the cloud” continues to grow at a strong pace. We are seeing customers, and prospective customers, generally fall into one of three categories. Those starting in the cloud, those moving to the cloud and those considering the cloud.

Taking a closer look, organizations that are just starting out are coming to software and technology providers with business plans with cloud or “as a service” mandates. The reason is simple. These new organizations are looking to completely avoid the capital intensive process of building out IT infrastructure.

At the other end of the spectrum are existing and mature companies moving to the cloud. These are often organizations in a state of significant transition or that are at a minimum trying to transform some aspect of their business models. They are looking to cloud computing or “as a service” solutions to help them shed costly IT infrastructure as opposed to continuing to maintain or expand it. The details of their stories vary, but their primary request is consistent, “We want off of the treadmill.”

By far the largest group are those considering the cloud. These are organizations facing software, middleware or hardware upgrades. They are looking for additional business functionality via point solutions. And they are looking to replace aging enterprise software. Regardless of the specific need, we are starting to see organizations require that cloud be considered as part of the selection process.

A progressive example is the U.S. federal government. U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra has issued a Federal Cloud Computing Strategy and adopted a “Cloud First” policy. This policy is intended to accelerate the pace the government will realize the value of cloud computing by requiring agencies to evaluate safe, secure cloud computing options before making any new investments.

Similar policies are emerging in organizations across industries. Those looking to procure new software or technology solutions are being challenged by leadership teams to explain why a cloud or “as a service” solutions will not work or meet the organization’s business requirements. It’s this challenge that provides the best insight into who is moving to the cloud and why. Those looking for value rather than to purchase a piece of technology.

Heath-