As we wrap up our April focus on offering everything-as-a-service, we’ll take a look at the need for customers to embrace the cloud. With subscription-based software and Microsoft’s Office 365 platform already pushing many businesses to embrace cloud solutions to some degree, the question becomes what will it take to prod those holdout customers to get on board?
Jeff Dotzler, vice president of professional services for Gordon Flesch Co., emphasizes that the cloud is becoming a greater factor in how organizations acquire and manage information. The days of clients not having any cloud-based data or solutions have pretty much evaporated.
“In terms of organizations moving all of their operations – their ERP, their financial package, things like that – to the cloud, I think that’s happening at a quicker pace for a lot of organizations, but maybe not so much for the very large,” he noted. “But even the very large are doing offsite backup of their data to a cloud provider.
“I think smaller organizations that embrace it see significant efficiencies and cost savings from different tools. It’s not for every situation, and not for every application, depending on what the client is dealing with and what their challenge is. But it’s definitely here to stay, and those who embrace it are going to see significant efficiencies.”
Considering the role that the cloud plays in cybersecurity solutions alone should be enough to sway customer attitudes, notes Chip Miceli, president and CEO of Pulse Technology. The onslaught of hacking demands that end-users avail themselves of the best solution money can buy.
“If you work with a company like Continuum, they have a price module for that,” Miceli said. “We just got into selling cybersecurity; I have cyber insurance myself in case I get hacked. In Indiana, some major companies have been hacked already. It’s in their minds, but not so much in the Chicago area. Smart hackers are getting into systems and turning off backups. More and more people are understanding that they have to be in the cloud because it is less hackable.”
Smaller Scale
Customer billing by seat or by device is not just a tool for the well-heeled dealers. West McDonald, founder of West McDonald Co., notes that resource management is the key for smaller dealers who wish to be players.
“For them, keeping it simple initially is going to be the key,” he said. “That could be working with NEXERA and keeping it simple on a per-device basis. But they at least have to start building some sales collateral and training their people on how to offer their program.
“I think there’s a huge opportunity for them. I think that if they don’t take advantage of it, they’re going to start losing more and more deals to companies like Marco that are getting into these programs, having more and more success, and make it the main way that they sell.”
