Findings published recently by The Centre for Economics & Business Research reveal that the further adoption of cloud computing could be worth £645 billion for the top five EU economies over the next five years. Furthermore, it could also create 2.4 million jobs; 2011 is ‘the year of the cloud.’
Closer to home, there has also been a great deal of noise made recently about how cloud computing is going to transform (or at least change) the ways in which marketers meet their objectives. Salesforce recently announced the launch of its Database.com product, billed as ‘the first enterprise database built for the cloud’. Really Simple Systems also revealed an impressive take-up rate of its newly-launched free cloud-based CRM system. And you are guaranteed to see more marketing solutions and related software products located on the cloud in the coming year.
But despite these product launches, assertions and headline-friendly stats, there’s still a degree of uncertainty, among all but the most tech-savvy marketers, regarding exactly what the cloud is offering and what it might mean for them.
The cloud = freedom
In terms of definitions there are few better sources than Dr Mark Williams, who, with 17 years of cloud experience, has recently published a guide for companies seeking to make the move.
He says, “Cloud computing comes in many different guises and the range and choices can be bewildering. But in its purest form it simply makes available a full range of IT capabilities on a subscription or consumption basis to anyone anywhere, automatically and on-demand. In short, it’s pay-as-you-go IT via the Internet.”
So cloud computing is essentially about freedom. Companies are no longer tied to fixed servers, software packages and expensive management costs. By locating servers, key shared applications, data and preferred software packages on the cloud, companies can save money and improve their flexibility, allowing employees to go about their business with more freedom.
But making this technological leap can be a daunting prospect, as Richard Thomas, MD of NetEvidence, explains, “It feels a bit like handing over a precious child with all the emotional attachments that entails. Business functions are being centralised away from their business premises and their own servers onto infrastructure held at a trusted supplier’s location. Cloud promises simplicity and real cost savings to customers.”
Benefits to marketing
All well and good, but how does all this benefit the marketing department specifically? For Martin Schneider, director of communications at SugarCRM, which offers cloud-based CRM services, the cloud offers marketers multiple benefits. “Cloud computing can lower the costs of a marketing organisation, create a more agile strategic model, and better align marketing with sales,” he says.
“The cloud allows marketers to make technology decisions more independently – without the sometimes long and involved process of IT intermediation. This speeds up time-to-value, time-to-deploy new technology, and time to develop. The added agility that comes with creating, running and editing such items as reports, campaigns and customer lists can free up marketers to be more creative or simply focus more on the most successful programmes, and spend less time on administrative tasks.”
Another significant benefit is the scalability offered in the cloud. The cloud is responsive and flexible, so it can react in real-time to the demands of any given project. If your promotional video goes viral, you can respond with the appropriate level of server power without fear of going offline.
Fabio Torlini is VP of cloud for cloud computing company Rackspace. He describes a situation where the scalability of the cloud allows a marketing team to custom-build its hosting requirements for each project. “Traditionally the way people demanded hosting services was by trying to guess how much infrastructure they needed, and it was very fixed. If the campaign was extremely successful it would have been in danger of breaking down if they hadn’t planned it properly. The cloud removes all these issues from a scalability perspective. You don’t have to overestimate. You can put your campaign live on the cloud and if it is more successful you can scale up,” he explains.
The cloud also offers marketers a responsive, round-the-clock source of shared intelligence, which is in line with the demands of marketing in the 21st century. Anything located on the cloud can be accessed from anywhere, colleagues can collaborate easily even if they are not in the same place and, because the systems can be backed up round-the-clock, marketers will always have the most up-to-date information available at their finger tips.
Clouding the issue
But don’t imagine the cloud comes disadvantage free. It’s worth noting that your company’s critical data will be stored on the Internet. In most cases it will probably be safer than it was when hosted in-house, but you should make sure you have faith in your provider. There are also potential question marks regarding broadband reliability. If your connection is lost you may be unable to access key information, though it is perhaps unfair to position this pitfall at the feet of the technology.
Cloud computing is set to become mainstream. It is very likely to become part of your day-to-day life, if it isn’t already. It is likely to mean savings for the company and you’re likely to experience better real-time flexibility on the job. But cloud computing isn’t quite the beginning of a new epoch for marketers.
It is undoubtedly well placed to assist the marketing department run successful campaigns but it will prove equally as useful in the accounts department, creative teams and those working in banking. It is probably within the IT world that its impact will be most noticeable. The beauty of the cloud, communication and open-source technology though is their continued evolution. Who knows where it may lead?
