Cloud and Companies Made for Each Other

The recent Cloud Computing Trends report from CompTIA, a non-profit research organization, has revealed that though over 90 percent of corporate respondents use cloud computing, many of them prefer to use it for non-critical operations than for the full production stage. In a way, the data shows that the companies tend to move backward when it comes to complete implementation of the cloud in the work system.

Perhaps, the major reason for the companies to include the cloud in business operations is to bring a sizeable cut in the expenses, but most of these companies fail to measure the real business value of the cloud. Therefore, after giving two, three or even five years to the cloud, at times, the companies cannot leverage all the benefits of this highly productive platform, and finally, decide to backpedal. Nevertheless, the Internet television giant Netflix and the beverage giant Coca-Cola have taken assistance from the cloud in writing their success stories after passing through a long transition period.

Here are a few less-focused benefits of the enterprise-grade cloud solutions:
Cloud brings agility
Apart from savings, the cloud can bring agility to the business processes and enable companies reducing time to market. All the reports that emphasize on cost-saving aspects of the cloud give little highlight to these benefits.

Today, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the most heavily used service model in the enterprises followed by IaaS and PaaS. The less penetration of IaaS and PaaS as compared to SaaS is due to the prevalence of false consideration in the enterprises that IT is just an overhead expense without any strategic importance.

Companies want to save more in the IT operations thereby skipping the long-term advantages. For example, PaaS enables companies to become independent on app development and IaaS facilitates them to distribute data across the world. When the cloud comes to the mainstream, an agile methodology will become a norm for the companies across the globe.

Cloud offers business IT benefits
The rise of business IT results in improving data access and automation. Travelling companies including Uber and Airbnb smartly use IT to get a strategic advantage in their business. Other companies working across different industry sectors also jump on the business IT bandwagon to get a competitive edge over their peers. Customized cloud-based solutions can act as one of the most effective tools to leverage business IT for the companies.

Final say
The companies need to come out from a cost-driven thinking to measure the real value of the cloud. However, the good sign is that a significant number of entrepreneurs like to learn about the cloud concepts and willing to experiment. It is time to make the cloud a real growth driver for the businesses through a smart and efficient use.