This is the third in a series of posts focused on cloud computing. My goal is to put this topic in some perspective for small to medium size business, organizations and educational institutions that may be considering a “move to the cloud”. The full series is available at: www.vector-associates.com/blog/.

When Do National/Global Provider Solutions Make Sense?

Including products offered by national/global providers as part of your cloud computing solution can make sense for your business or organization if the following criteria are met:

• The individual products meet your needs
• The products can be successfully integrated into your overall technology strategy
• The level of product support, both internal and from third parties, is sufficient for your needs

Solutions from national/global providers fall into three broad categories:

Web-based solutions that replace traditional office PC applications

This category includes office applications such as email, calendar development/management, document development/sharing and team collaboration.  The focus is providing flexible web-based access, ease of use and low initial and ongoing operating costs.  Solutions initially focused on individual users, but have been expanded significantly over time to include small to medium businesses, organizations and large corporations.    Google is probably the most widely known and most aggressive player in this category.  Microsoft is also focusing on this market by extending the on-line capabilities of their traditionally office software applications.  While no one application may be the strongest or offer the widest range of capability, the overall solution set can be very compelling.

“Assemble it yourself” technology building blocks

Solutions in this category focus on providing specific technical capability that can complement or replace the internal technical infrastructure of a company or organization.  Leased services such as online storage, scalable server capacity and email hosting are examples of services in this category.  Amazon’s Web Services, which includes S3 (storage solution) and EC2 (cloud computing), is a good example of a non-traditional IT provider that has entered this market.  What distinguishes products in this category is the need for the user to understand, select, configure and manage the elements of the solution to meet their specific needs.

Standalone through integrated “total business solution” applications

Solutions in this category include products and services that fulfill a broad range of business needs.  They cover the range from individual applications that perform specific functions to comprehensive platform-based solutions intended to meet all the needs of a business or an organization with a single, familiar interface.  Examples of products in this category include customer relationship management (CRM), accounting, and information management solutions.  While they can still be purchased as standalone applications, companies such as SAP, Oracle and Salesforce.com have focused their efforts on evolving these products to operate and share data seamlessly on a common platform as part of a “one stop” total business solution.  Remote, secure, 24/7 web-based access is a commonly available with these solutions. Read More→

This is the second in a series of posts over several weeks focused on cloud computing. My goal is to put this topic in some perspective for small to medium size business, organizations and educational institutions that may be considering a “move to the cloud”. The full series is available at: www.vector-associates.com/blog/.

With all of this going for it, why NOT jump in to cloud computing?

Cloud computing does offer a compelling solution. In order to decide how it may fit into your total IT solution, let’s focus on the issues that must be considered.

Think before you leap – Determine the “mix” of cloud computing that makes sense based on your needs

As we indicated previously, cloud computing isn’t an “all or nothing” choice. As you investigate your IT solution options, there are three elements to consider as part of a complete solution:

a) Services that you continue to provide and manage locally within your facilities
b) Services hosted by IT providers in your local area or region
c) Services hosted by national, international or global providers

The question of finding the right solution mix is probably best illustrated with a simple example. An organization might decide to maintain a minimum local support staff to manage and maintain their in-house computers, network hardware and Internet connection. All locally installed server hardware and applications could be migrated to an external IT service provider. Email, CRM and other shared services could be obtained from this same provider, or from several national/global providers such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon to name just a few.

Each alternative has pluses and minuses that must be considered.  They also should be viewed from the perspective of a plan that makes sense and fits the needs of the business or organization over time.  “All at once” might not be the best approach.

As with any significant strategy decision, healthy debate of the options within the organization should be encouraged.  This should NOT be solely an IT driven decision.  What are we trying to accomplish?  What are the concerns?  What are the questions?   What are trade-offs?  What should we do and when should we do it?  These are all appropriate questions.

One effective tool that can be used to capture this information and to help facilitate the process is a business case.  In addition to capturing the “what” of the proposed change, it should capture, the “who”, “how”, “when” along with the “how much” in terms of both the projected savings, projected expenses and any initial investment that may very well be required.  Yes, it will require work to develop, but spending the time up front will almost always pay great dividends down the road. Read More→