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Cloud computing: "The news industrial revolution"

Cloud computing will be the modern world’s equivalent of the industrial revolution, and the UK and Europe need to take advantage before they get left behind.

Cloud computing is the newest industrial revolution to hit the world and Europe needs to catch up, according to EuroCloud

Author: Alex Hamilton.
www.cloudpro.co.uk/cloud-essentials/general/4163/cloud-computing-the-new-industrial-revolution

That is according to Dr. Tobias Höllwarth, who says the cloud is very much here to stay and that companies should begin their optimisation before it’s too late.

“It has never been a good strategy to run behind someone else in a race,” Dr. Höllwarth, consultant and board member of EuroCloud, told journalists at the Cloud Enterprise Forum, Monaco.

“Cloud is changing everything for every company, every person: the way we source and work is different and people don’t even know when they are using [the cloud] it’s that persistent.”

Despite the pervasiveness of cloud computing, he added, Europe is not taking advantage of the position it has been put into. “In every industrial revolution a number of workplaces were destroyed and replaced by new ones. IT people will be replaced if they cannot cope with a changing environment.”

Providers, too, will have to tailor their offering to customers. According to data from EuroCloud, 92 per cent of all businesses in the continent have less than 10 employees, while 99.2 per cent have less than 200 employees. Outsourcing for smaller businesses, says Dr. Höllwarth, requires trust and experience.

“Cloud is like soup. A small business will go out and buy a mixture of ingredients, prepare it their way, cook it their way and produce a meal that is to their liking," he said.

“Then a big company comes along, trying to offer the soup they have produced on a production line, saying ‘buy my soup, it’s cheap and will always taste the same!’ it has none of the tailored features that the smaller firm’s own brand does.”

This “SoSaaS” – “Same old software as a service” trend will be to the detriment of young businesses and those looking to gain a foothold in the global economy, continued Dr. Höllwarth.

“If young people and companies cannot participate in the economic game emerging from the adoption of cloud than the future of growth in the continent looks grim.”

www.cloudpro.co.uk/cloud-essentials/general/4163/cloud-computing-the-new-industrial-revolution