A bright future for the cloud and managed hosting providers who offer cloud computing? Yes! A December report from the industry analysts at Gartner, Inc., indicates that by 2012, at least 35 percent of U.S. mid-market businesses (100 to 999 employees) will purchase cloud computing and IT utility services. That’s considerable.
From an AISN standpoint, just as we launch our own cloud solution this spring, the news couldn’t come at a better time.
Without question, the gravitation toward cloud computing and IT utility services is a natural consequence of the current economic crisis, which is increasingly forcing the IT departments of mid-size businesses to take a hard look at belt tightening measures. Reduce staff? Postpone hires? Turn to IT providers who can offer a better value? Evaluate alternative IT delivery models? For a lot of growing companies, those aging in-house servers that must be replaced represent a big capital expense – just when they can least afford it. As a former CFO and an entrepreneur, I understand all too well the pain that companies feel during these difficult economic times. And, when something as mission-critical as IT is at stake, these are undoubtedly tough decisions.
That’s where cloud computing comes in. The beauty is that cloud computing, by its nature, is a technology solution that offers a clear business benefit. It lowers the high “fixed cost of IT” while increasing the agility, flexibility and scalability of a business’ mission-critical IT infrastructure. There are no servers to buy and manage, because AISN does that for you. Even better, you only pay for the computing you use – just as you only pay for the electricity you use. It’s that simple.
Cloud computing may not have high market penetration now, but look out. What we’re witnessing now, I think, is only the beginning of a sea change that will sweep this country over the next five years.
Jay Atkinson is CEO of AIS Network.