Cloud Computing is no Longer Only for the IT Field!

The words “Cloud Computing” might sound like a new advancement in the IT world, but it has literally been right above our heads this whole time! Think of a time that you were at an airport. Remember the huge screens/signs that were hanging from the ceilings. Well that is a very good example of Cloud Computing at its best!

And guess what! Cloud computing is becoming so intensely popular that it is expected to account for more than 20% of the entire IT budget by 2013! Research has also shown that cloud computing is no longer only for IT purposes. Finance, Marketing, HR and other fields are key stakeholders with about 25% to 30%. Although this system is foremost a technological system, many of the difficulties related to effectiveness are occurring in a non-technical manner. Hopefully in the near future businesses will look at cloud computing as a way of delivering IT enabled capabilities rather than just IT capabilities.

As this idea of a non-technical system grows, cloud computing will move towards the service industry. Non-IT facilities will include printing, payroll, e-commerce and logistics and the beauty of this system is that businesses that are not viewed as IT companies will have the option of delivering these services without ever having the need to create its own cloud computing system.

A well known research firm also states that by the year 2015 20% of non-IT businesses will take the same route into cloud computing and become a strong group of 500 companies that offer cloud computing services.

Large scale organizations such as retail, media, financial services and government have started to realize that supply chain abilities do not have to be commercialized through their stores, whether it is being done physically or online. All these have its own earning potential. 

This is a trend that is not completely being lead by cloud computing although there seems to be some trends which are driving the business mandate behind this system. Some of those include accelerated digitizing (Hyper Digitizing) of numerous industries such as education, government, media, etc. It also includes intermediates that are industry specific such as insurance and travel industry.

These industries also offer digital services that are non-physical and found mostly online.  Moreover, many businesses have been eagerly awaiting the move headed for process externalization which is lead by activities such as Open Improvement.

The move by non-IT organizations to provide non-IT capabilities by using cloud computing will mean even more technology results will be made outside the IT industry. In the end these services are growing into service level agreements that will be understood by the owner of the specific process. Yet, while the difficulties that prohibit these groups from directly provisioning these services fall, the need to manage data and include additional requirements will continue…

All in all Cloud computing is a more complex system that anything we have previously discussed. And yes, it will take some time to get used to this system and fully comprehend its capabilities and how far into various industries it can branch out. Hopefully with a little bit more research and some practice we can all become experts at Cloud Computing!