The Cloud is levelling the playing field for SME software providers, according to panellists at the Business Cloud Summit.
With almost every technology vendor and service provider staking a claim to the Cloud Computing mantle, it can be increasingly difficult for decision makers to work out which horse to back and whose Cloud credentials stand up to close scrutiny. In a lively panel debate, some of the leading Cloud Computing providers were challenged to substantiate their claims.
The panel included Robert Whiteside, Head of Enterprise (UK and Ireland) for Google; Steve Sydes, Vice President and MD of EMEA, Netsuite; Tom Fisher, VP Cloud Computing of Success Factors; Woodson Martin, Vice President of Strategy for EMEA, salesforce.com; and Mark Taylor, Senior Director of Developer and Platform Evangelism for Microsoft.
When asked whether ‘Cloud’ was in fact an unhelpful term for describing software as a service technologies, the panel agreed that it had been abused in recent years and wasn’t necessarily illustrative of the potential benefits of these services.
“It’s a fairly generic term that lends itself to being abused by pundits, so much so that’s it’s become ubiquitous”, said Tom Fisher.
Woodson Martin commented: “Cloud Computing’ is the most abused term in the IT industry since ‘virtualisation’. It’s probably easier to say what the Cloud is not than what it is. If you need to upgrade it, it’s not Cloud. If you need cap ex up front, it’s not Cloud”.
“I don’t know if there’s a perfect definition of Cloud. You need to look underneath the marketing labels. You need to evaluate not on the basis of the category, but on what you’re trying to accomplish in your business”, he continued.
However, now that the word is in the public domain, it might not necessarily be a bad thing, suggested Martin: “People are concerned about security, viability, and portability. These are primary concerns for any CIO or business owner. If it’s the word ‘Cloud’ that gets you focused on how to solve the business problems you have, it’s working”.
Who’s playing the game?
Stoking the debate, BusinessCloud9 editor Stuart Lauchlan asked: “If Google hadn’t gotten involved in the Cloud, would companies like Oracle and Microsoft bother?”
“That pressure is driving change”, admitted Mark Taylor.
“The reality is that just like the Cloud itself, the marketplace is shifting, the environment is changing so fast, the dynamics are different”, said Tom Fisher.
“Google has brought a number of products to market using Cloud technology, and choice is growing. Historically, it was hard for SMEs to compete with large vendors, as it was expensive to build those applications. Nowadays there are a lot more opportunities for SMEs to build applications and be a part of it, which can only be a good thing in terms of consumer choice”, said Robert Whiteside.
"The next competitor for Microsoft and Google could be two guys in a garage in China developing the next application. That's a good thing for business choice", he added.
Steve Sydes suggested: “Disruptive technologies always coming through. It’s a lot tougher to move from one disruptive technology to another. History has shown that big players fall out, new players come in. Provided we give our customers what we want, there are opportunities. Microsoft and Google coming on board makes it a much wider, more aware form of technology”.
SAP in the Cloud
The panellists were candid on the subject of SAP and Oracle Cloud efforts.
“There have been a number of half steps. We’ve seen Oracle de-committing and focusing instead on fusion. All the major players are struggling. What it takes to be great as a Cloud Computing provider is different to what it takes to build a great on-premise platform”, said Woodson Martin, although he noted “it’s a little too early to judge”.
“SAP have made some pretty high profile attempts to launch their products and it hasn’t worked for them so far. It is a different technology and I just don’t see they’ve made great efforts in their attempts to understand it. By making the mistakes they have, they’ve made it better for us to understand what the Cloud can be like”, said Steve Sydes.
“Products like SAP and Oracle are not going to go away – we have to coexist. The integration of those solutions – both Cloud to Cloud and Cloud to on-premise – is going to be important”, noted Tom Fisher.
Barriers to adoption
Some critics have cited legislation as the main barrier to adoption of Cloud Computing for many businesses. When asked what could be done to overcome these issues, the panellists suggested there could be changes ahead.
“Lots of things will need to change. Cost savings are attracting people to working in the Cloud, but it requires a balancing of risk. We need to give comfort to people on a number of levels; we need to have clear statements about data protection. As businesses become more global the issues will change. We need to answer the challenges that face us today”, said Robert Whiteside.
“It should be a case of due diligence”, insisted Tom Fisher. “We need to encourage resiliency questions – that’s what will separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to Cloud providers”.
“Standards will emerge from the industry and as the most pragmatic and efficient ways of doing things emerge, standards will come from that”, commented Mark Taylor.
Post new Comment