One particular benefit of cloud computing solutions that many businesses have come to appreciate is their cost-cutting abilities. But, according to one IBM executive, cost reduction is not the central rationale pushing cloud adoption.
Justin Gatlin, IBM director of Cloud Business, held a briefing before its InterConnect 2013 event in Singapore today. Based on conversations with entities around the world, Gatlin said the most substantial factors driving cloud adoption are business growth and innovation.
“It’s not about cost reduction. That’s not how the conversations go,” Gatlin said. “It’s about empowerment. How we empower business users, align the business, how we empower the IT users and how we empower the customers.”
While cloud computing services are widely known to lower operational costs for businesses, the other benefits the technology brings to companies eclipse the economical advantage. Gatlin noted one example of a Vietnam-based business that increased its customer-base by 50 percent in less than one year.
Cloud-based systems have the ability to propel innovation and business growth. Whether in a SMB or enterprise environment, cloud IaaS, PaaS and Saas models create an opportunity for companies to succeed and grow faster than traditional technologies.
Such platforms that automatically patch, update and maintain businesses’ systems for a monthly fee allow extra time for focusing on goals and objectives, in turn, helping to empower companies in ways outdated systems cannot replicate.
Along with lowering costs, outsourced support and maintenance, and freeing up resources that may be needed elsewhere, cloud computing services even help eliminate industry entry barriers for smaller businesses.
A recent study conducted by IBM highlighted that CEOs found technology to be the foremost factor outside of their respective industry that influenced the future of their business. Compared to 2004, CEOs believed technology was the sixth most important factor. While CIOs and CMOs tended to rank it second, the stable progression of technologies’ importance is clear. Whether a company is primarily on the business-to-business or business-to-consumer stage, the benefits cloud computing mete out are the same. And, as technology improves and adapts to new demands, so will the organizations it’s intended to serve.
