The one constant in the IT industry – change – requires companies to constantly stay abreast of quick-moving innovations in both technology and practices. While this change can be disruptive and rapid, it also has a certain cyclical nature to it. In the current shift to cloud computing, the “winners” will be those who embrace change.
We’ve seen this before. Mainframes were the popular and “go to” methodology in the 1960’s, only to be displaced by client-server technologies in the 1980’s that moved the industry from a centralized to a de-centralized computing model. In the 2000’s, we swung back to a more centralized model with the “Software as a Service” (SaaS) idea that was popularized in names like utility computing and the Application Service Provider. While interesting and practical from a technology perspective, these did not gain customer traction for two primary reasons: insufficient connectivity requirements, and customer discomfort with moving data and systems outside their own walls. A mainframe was still something they could touch in the 60’s – data centers were simply an abstract concept.
The ubiquitous nature of the internet prompted the idea of putting data online – or “in the cloud” – at the same time that Internet connectivity reached a tipping point. The Internet is commonplace and expected, and storing data within it is now a common and standard business practice. Despite this industry-wide comfort with cloud computing, some businesses remain hesitant to embrace the idea of the control and management of that data. Why? Many businesses lack IT as a core competency; others cling to the antiquated view that internal staff should control and manage this resource.
The business costs of retaining these outdated notions are broad, as cloud computing is about more than the money spent on each resource. Indeed, every dollar spent on cloud computing represents a dollar spent more efficiently – and with a greater reach. Most businesses simply can’t reach the scale and capabilities of a cloud service, with multiple data centers, failover redundancy, and massive computational power. Nor can they achieve the scale and expertise of a team managing the network, or duplicate the power and business continuity possible within a cloud environment.
Yet they still hesitate.
Convincing organizations to take their systems and data outside of their own four walls requires a shift of focus for service providers away from just delivering best-of-breed solutions to their customers and instead focusing on the value of the services they deliver from the cloud when engaging with potential customers. This is no simple task, but it is critical to ensure continued business growth as these services increasingly become core to their offerings. Shifting this focus requires service providers to follow a three part process.
- Focus on education. Customers need to understand the value of the services when they embrace cloud technologies, as well as the difference in capabilities. Cloud-based email, for example, is delivered from multiple data centers with redundant connectivity and always-on failover, which is simply cost prohibitive to have within an SMB. Educating customers about these new technologies will open their eyes to the benefits of moving beyond in-house IT.
- Establish trust. Demonstrating expertise to customers via an organized methodology such as a Network Assessment is a strong way to build trust, particularly where a service provider investigates the customer’s existing infrastructure and uses technical know-how to expose potential risk within the environment. A structured methodology will always expose risk that can be mitigated or eliminated via proper investment. This exercise gives customers a chance to experience the technical expertise of the service provider, and thus builds trust that they can guide the customer toward the IT decisions that make the most sense for their business.
- Demonstrate value. The provider will show how the use of technology, particularly in the assessment process, outperforms what is typical for most SMBs and lets them simplify business processes while also lightening in-house IT staff burdens. By showing a differentiation of service, the service provider establishes the value of their expertise and of their offerings, illustrating what benefits would be missed now and what potential issues could arise in the future if the customer continues managing their IT infrastructure internally.
By focusing on education, trust, and value in each engagement, from a basis of sound assessment methodology, service providers differentiate themselves from internal IT and from antiquated ideas of infrastructure management. Technology has advanced considerably, and there are opportunities for all by embracing those changes.
