What is "cloud," anyway?
“Cloud” is a pretty meaningless term. It basically can mean whatever you want it to. That goes for the IT vendor community, IT organizations, and the ultimate end consumer. Ask each of them for their definition of cloud and you will get a different answer each time. The good news is that most of the responses we hear are focused on the right concepts:
- Improved consumption of and access to applications
- Access to additional applications
- Favorable economic delivery models
Applications are the primary target for the cloud. Look for applications that:
- Are used periodically as opposed to on a daily basis
- IT lacks the skill sets to maintain and support
- Increase knowledge and productivity
The industry players that can deliver these characteristics are likely to find themselves as cloud providers for earlier adopters and have the potential to be well positioned for a pipeline full of applications that require additional trust and security.
