A Simple Example of Cloud Computing at Work
Cloud Computing. Hmm.
I think some people see Cloud Computing as a panacea for all of a company’s IT woes. That by making an all-out shift to hosted software and platforms, businesses will rid themselves of any IT issues. I’m also not sure about the term itself, as it sounds like too much of a bandwagon to be jumped on to.
There is no doubt Cloud Computing offers a great deal to many, if not most, businesses. It brings enterprise level technology and services within easy grasp of any size business and levels the playing field. It reduces costly overheads, and allows easy scalability and expansion. It can ease cashflow, changing what has traditionally been capital expenditure to operating expenses.
However I don’t believe the majority of businesses will move all their IT transactions to the cloud in the short term. Firstly, I think it’s possibly too much of a mindset change for the more traditional business (which most of them are) and secondly, I think in the end we will see much more of a hybrid model, where some services are hosted (eg email, CRM) and some remain on site and server-based (eg line of business applications).
All that being said, the other day I had a cracking little example of how useful cloud computing can be. We use Brightpearl (tagged link) online business software for our accounts, CRM and service desk functions and, being cloud-based, we can access our business information anywhere. Two things occurred that made me realise just how much I take for granted anywhere access and also just how enabling it can be.
I was dealing with an issue for a client which I knew had cropped up in the past, but had taken a while to track down and fix. Now, I could have run through the same processes again and solved the problem, but was able instead to log into Brightpearl (from the client’s office), check the past service desk tickets for that client and jump straight to the solution. It saved me time and the saved the client money.
Then the client came in and initiated a discussion about their firm’s IT; how it was being used and what issues there were that kept cropping up. I was able to pull up all the past job tickets and go through them with the client to gain a nice overview as to how their IT was working and where to concentrate effort in improving it.
No delay; no returning to the office and running through the job tickets only to report back to the client later; and one satisfied client, all due to the simple ability to access our business data from anywhere, anytime. Nice one Cloud Computing, nice one Brightpearl.