Good Advice for Cloud Providers
Cloud providers everywhere: listen up. Here are some good pieces of advice to bear in mind when developing cloud capacity and services. These tips are from a recent story that I read that discusses the realistic cloud computing needs of corporations.
Why read on? The recession and the corporate mandate for IT departments everywhere to cut costs is raising interest in cloud services. Meanwhile, many firms are still wary about making the change from internal-based servers, while others are test-driving systems on an application basis or with specific business processes.
- Differentiate yourself. It’s already cluttered out there in Cloudville and the hype is deafening. Get more in tune with the specific business challenges that are facing your customers and design according to what you learn. In short, be more explicit and more proactive in how you explain and differentiate cloud offerings from your competitors. There’s a lot of customer skepticism out there, and much of it can be overcome with more details from you.
- Know what else helps companies overcome their skepticism: market leadership and innovation. For instance, you can establish yourself as a cloud computing leader in research, analysis or forecasting, technology innovation, a provider of business value…or in other categories. If your customers see you as helping to shape the cloud industry and agenda, they’ll have greater confidence in you and your ability to deliver cloud services.
- Develop cloud services ecosystems. Let’s face it… rarely can an IT services provider deliver all the pieces of a cloud solution on its own. Look for a partner that can complement what you offer and provide go-to-market products. Maybe it’s a software vendor you need, or perhaps another cloud provider as a partner. Such partnerships will increase visibility among your customers and grow sales coverage for cloud-based services.
Bottom line: companies are interested in cloud computing, but need more convincing. You can help them embrace the cloud by considering the above advice.