How to Profit from Cloud Computing

Despite the rapid adoption of cloud computing among organizations around the world, there is still one critical benefit eluding most organizations, particularly when it comes to the cloud: How do we derive real monetary value from these new technologies? Simply put, cloud computing has the potential to turn the economics of enterprise IT upside down, offering key business advantages from a capital and operations-related expense perspective.

Last year, we conducted a survey of software partners to find out where they see the IT industry going in the next two years. An impressive 50 percent of respondents indicated that cloud computing will be a leading driver of profitability, and the same percentage ranked consulting services as their top cloud opportunity. The problem, we realized, was not their recognition of the technology's ability to change their business, but their lack of understanding about how to actually make it profitable for their business.

There are vendors who host and offer subscription-based cloud offerings, as well as offer the infrastructure and operational management software to make IT "invisible" so that the focus is on the business, the clients' services and the processes they demand to be successful using public and private cloud capabilities. But the financial benefits of the cloud can and should transcend an organization’s affiliation with a vendor.

Some of you out there have heard of the "Four Ps" of marketing. Well, in order to capitalize on this growing industry trend, I think businesses must be well-versed in the "Three Cs" of cloud computing. The opportunity for all organizations in the cloud lies in consulting, customizing and continuing cloud services. By adding industry knowledge and expertise, organizations can create and offer a repeatable set of cloud enablement, delivery and operational skills unique to specific industries as the cloud model becomes more and more prevalent.

Next: Three Cs of Cloud Computing: Consulting, Customizing and Continuing >>