How the cloud has changed the business world

According to Eric Knorr and Galen Gruman at InfoWorld, cloud computing refers to “virtual servers available over the Internet.” Not really the nebulous definition one envisions, but as cloud computing is in its earliest stages, the actual application of the cloud can seem pretty vague. Some of the most common ways that we are seeing the cloud used in business today include increasing storage capacity, training new employees, and downloading new software. Cloud computing also allows businesses to extend their IT department capabilities by granted subscriptions or pay-per-use access to services, such as dataprotection.com cloud backup.

Increase your storage power

What if your business has a season or holiday that increases your website usage for 24 or 48 hours? Are you dependent on big holiday sales online to get you through the year? Maybe you host a seasonal sporting event online, which overtakes your storage power as users flock to your site in record numbers. That is exactly what happens to the site for the tennis championships at Wimbledon each year.

Revolutionising your IT department

Ron Tolido explains in a recent post for CageGemini’s Consulting, Technology, Outsource Blog that the cloud has revolutionized IT departments. He cites the prodigal online marketplace known as Amazon as benchmarking major changes in the business world. Amazon has begun to use the cloud to create a new niche called Amazon Web Services, which Tolido states “offers a neatly organized self-service catalog of cloud business solutions in all major categories… with transparent, highly competitive, usage-based pricing.”

Imagine outsourcing your IT department to the clouds via Amazon, saving you money on payroll and software. The options for the latest developments in technology and software will become selling points by Amazon, rather than a guessing game as you are always the last to know about the next best thing in technology and software that could help your business grow.

Using the cloud for a product-driven approach

Peter Fenton of Benchmark Capital in his blog post for TechCrunch explains that the cloud has changed the fundamental shift of companies worldwide from a sales-driven approach to product-driven. This dramatic change in the way businesses are thinking means that rather than focusing on selling to potential customers, products are the kingpin. The new goal is to provide the best possible product to the customers who need it and are looking for it using technology, i.e., Web searches.

So now that you know more about what the cloud is and how your business can benefit from it, it’s time to brainstorm business solutions. In what ways do you envision the cloud helping your business? Are you already benefiting from the cloud using one of the mentioned approaches?