In today’s InfoWorld, Tom Sullivan wrote an interesting article entitled “Will the downturn accelerate cloud computing?” that provides a great snapshot of the state of cloud computing. Sullivan touched base with many key industry analysts, SaaS vendors and enterprise customers to find out how the current state of affairs in the financial markets is impacting IT decisions.
The general trend is that as IT budgets are tightening that the value and flexibility of cloud computing and software-as-a-service are being recognized. John Girard, CEO of Clickability, is quoted as saying, “One of the great things about SaaS and cloud computing more generally is that they’re pay-as-you-go.”
That’s really the key point. It is going to get progressively harder to justify the capital expense of IT infrastructure and huge enterprise software deployments when a new and better model is taking root.
The SaaS/Cloud revolution won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. The harsh reality of a downturn is going to drive management to scrutinize expenditures. Robert Iati of the TABB Group reiterates this point when he said that “enterprises are refocusing IT money as they concentrate more sharply on the particular value they offer.”
Just like the oil crisis of the ‘70s brought about a new generation of efficient automobiles, this financial crisis is going to motivate companies to get the most out of their capital. The SaaS model will help enterprises, and even SMBs, maintain services to ride out the storm and be poised for growth once the economy regains its footing.
Posted by Chris Bright 