Competing Above your Weight Class

Compete Above Your Weight Class through ‘Cloud’ Computing

Punching above your weight for competitive advantageImagine the following scenario. You, weighing a mere 150 pounds and an armchair fighter, are suddenly challenged to a boxing match with a 260 pound professional boxer with fists the size of hams. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t consider even stepping into the ring. However, you have a trump card – a magic glove that multiplies the force of your punch tenfold. Emboldened by this amazing contraption, you confidently step into the ring, confident in the belief that you stand more than a fair chance of knocking your opponent out. In other words, this magic glove enables you to compete above your weight class.

In the field of enterprise software, ‘Cloud’ computing is your magic glove. With it, you can compete with the big boys even if you are a small or medium-sized business. Before the advent of ‘Cloud’ computing, you would have had to invest in millions of pounds of expensive enterprise software to have the operational capability to compete – not a viable alternative for SME’s on limited IT budgets. But with ‘Cloud’ computing, you can obtain the same capabilities as your bigger competitors by buying access to hardware and software, instead of the physical stuff itself.

A senior director of platform strategy at Microsoft, described ‘Cloud’ computing as celebrating “the [ability] to compete above your weight class.” He also cited some examples where smaller businesses can better serve their workloads by “leveraging the ‘Cloud’.” He mentioned the “Oprah Effect” where a mention of a business by the famous talk-show host produces a temporary surge in its popularity and crashes its website. Smaller businesses with minimum hosting resources are especially vulnerable.  He believes that ‘Cloud’ computing can prevent such an occurrence.

“Another example are companies that crunch massive numbers. You may need 2,000 virtual machines for a few hours and then turn them off for a week or two. This is seen in financial services industries and scientific communities that might need to visualise a strand of DNA.”

We do advise caution in dealing with concerns of ‘Cloud’ computing.

Andrew Jeanmonod, Senior IT Systems Manager at Datanet, makes a convincing case for ‘Cloud’ computing for SME’s –

“‘Cloud’ computing is really about delivering IT as a service, the idea of managing and delivering applications and services for business value and impact, as opposed to focusing on where those applications and services run or what level they run on. What it means is that ‘Cloud’ computing gives businesses the capability to be more flexible, more agile, in meeting the needs of the business. This is because the ‘Cloud’ removes the traditional limitations and boundaries associated with allocating or moving services.”

Since you only pay for what you use and you only use what you need, ‘Cloud’ computing saves a lot of money for small and medium-sized businesses while delivering equivalent value as expensive enterprise software. Therefore, powered by the ‘Cloud’, you are ready to play, or fight, with the big boys!

For more information on how you can benefit from the ‘Cloud’ please contact our Solutions Consultants on 0845 130 6010

 

 

Call our team today on 01252 810010 to find out more about how we can help you