Cloud computing provided to companies a new way to improve the effectiveness of business processes and the outcomes of their efforts.
In the last five years more and more companies have embraced the practice of renting access to the applications and technology they need when they need them. No matter is it about marketing, customer service, human resources, sales or finance.
The cloud computing trend has escaped recognition by traditional IT press and analysts that do not research or assess business, which is just beginning to understand that business does not do just what IT tells it to do.
This is especially important because people on the business side are held accountable for the results of their operations and should have a larger voice about what they use to improve their business processes.
Latest research from Ventana Research into technology innovations for business found a significant shift toward the use of on-demand and cloud computing approaches. The highest preference for cloud computing ( 41 % ) had business and social collaboration technology. Second was mobile with 37% and third social media, with 35%. Less critical was big data ( with 26% ) and analytics ( with 25% ).
Cloud computing has improved the availability of applications and information, and that's for sure. Companies that use it see the largest benefits of the cloud as lowered costs (40%) and improved efficiency of business processes (39%).
One of the challenges in using cloud computing is integration of data from the applications in the cloud with that of on-premises applications. This is very important to a lot of companies. As business continues to adopt more cloud applications, they need to synchronize or access more data for a range of business process and analytics needs.
The next-generation business intelligence found a growing shift to on-demand and cloud computing approaches for business intelligence across mobile, collaboration and even broader enterprise use in a quarter of organizations.
Having applications that meet the needs of the people who use them is more critical than satisfying IT, which will never use the applications. IT may try to simplify and force business to use applications and technologies from large technology vendors where they get the best deal, but business is more concerned about the use and effectiveness of technology. We are also seeing the smaller vendors earning just as much if not more opportunity to gain credibility with businesses looking to rent and use applications.
You should consider how your business can exploit cloud computing, especially in places where you are running older applications or tools that need to be replaced, or where you need new innovations in efficiency or methods to engage customers and promote growth.
Take a look at our Cloud and Mobile BI services page if you're interested.
The largest barrier to taking advantage of technology is lack of resources (51%).
Cloud computing is less of a benefit of any one vendor’s products but rather an approach that can give business a competitive advantage. Businesses should evaluate cloud-based solutions whenever they evaluate new investments.
As your company examines business applications and discusses how to accelerate your time to value, consider how cloud computing can become a critical path to meeting your business and IT needs.
source: Ventana Research