Simply speaking, the concept of cloud computing allows you to forget about the size, the scalability, the usually large capital investment for your hardware infrastructure. It may be difficult to grasp the sheer potential of cloud computing. In its very basic form, it eliminates the boundaries imposed by budget limits or technical knowhow small or large organizations alike.
While straightforward economics rarely determine the true design process, the question of how specific “cloud financials” represent potential savings for the purchasing organization are nevertheless important. One needs to be sure that they will save valuable resources in the medium to long-term, in addition to gaining efficiencies in terms of its IT operations and performance benchmarks.
Traditional IT
Traditionally, an organization has relied on external hosting solutions to handle its data accessibility and distribution needs or building this massive, complex, and expenses infrastructure itself. The traditional IT services are inherently inflexible. It has been difficult to deal with spikes and troughs in data needs, according to a client's complex operations or the quick movement of seasonal buying.
It has been necessary for a company to deploy
viable resources, both human and otherwise, to ramp up on additional capacity. This
is now changing as cloud computing can help a company establish its growth
needs or determines additional capacity to deliver on-demand when situations
warrant.
Cloud Financials
Cloud financials make a lot of sense when you consider what cloud computing replicates and seeks to make redundant. Quite simply, the company no longer needs to worry about hardware complexities, human capital, or pure operating capital. Companies can now more easily match their IT infrastructure with the demand, decreasing extra costs associated with over-building or lost revenue when not enough IT resources were secured.
Cloud computing, by definition, has data that is stored, managed, and distributed across an infinitely scalable hardware resource network. The reality of cloud financials is such that an organization can cut its costs in these areas by, in some cases, as much as 80% or more.
If an organization is reliant on self-hosted, managed, and purchased IT solutions and hardware, it must realize that the sheer logistical issues associated with the procurement, installation, commissioning, and subsequent operation of these assets is hard to justify against the cloud benefits. Cloud computing allows an organization to gain access to the power of these assets within minutes and, of course, saves the significant capital costs associated.
Any time that an organization makes a capital investment, it is to a certain extent taking a leap of faith, never 100% sure that the purchased assets will be used to the optimal level. This level of risk may have been historically acceptable, but cloud financials point to a much more sensible solution. Depreciation may be viewed as an accounting headache and it can often mean the difference between complete visibility and understanding of a project purchase.
Cloud financials do not recognize the need for depreciation, as assets are paid for, on an “as needed” basis. The financial benefits of cloud computing continue to evolve and grow with each company experiencing unique cost savings depending on their applications, IT infrastructure and business requirements.
I was searching for articles on cloud computing and found your blog pretty interesting. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Data Redundancy | 03/25/2010 at 05:25 PM