Examples for Cloud Deployment Models in a Business Environment
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to customize the software to their specific business needs (Laudon, Laudon, &
Schoder, 2011, pp. 252-253).
8.4.1
Potential Benefits & Risks of Salesforce.com
Salesforce CRM solutions can help companies gathering useful information from
their customers, while in the same breath keeping down costs. A sufficient
installation can also help to enhance productivity of employees, to maintain a more
efficient call-center, to develop meaningful sales forecasts, as well as to increase
sales and customer satisfaction. On the other hand it is therefore necessary to
integrate this CRM solution quite well into the existing infrastructure. Due to the
complexity of CRM, technical assistance is often required. Additionally data can
become outdated quick, if employees do not use the system accurately (Resch,
2012).
8.5
Changes in the IT Organization
Cloud computing will have an impact on the IT organization as it has been the case
with new technologies in the past. This change happens on two layers. The first one
deals with the acquisition of new skills to deploy the technology in terms of providing
a solution to a specific business problem. The second dimension is all about the
influence of the technology on the changes of the IT role. An important part also
plays the speed of change that impacts the adoption of cloud technologies and the
capability to decompose suitable solutions from the ongoing cloud hype to derive
real value from the technology. A change regarding topics like HR specific changes
in the company, as well as the establishment of control mechanisms, to monitor and
manage IT risks, is imminent (Mather, Kumaraswamy, & Latif, 2009, pp. 33-34).
Seher (2013) remarks that an enormous change is taking place within the company,
as soon as the existing IT infrastructure is expanded by cloud services. A traditional
IT-Administrator, who can be defined as a person with technological knowledge and
a logical pattern of thinking, cannot live up to the stipulated requirements to tap up
the full potential of cloud services. Seher realizes a potential danger for companies
