Everyday we talk with companies that are evaluating cloud computing capabilities to reduce costs, be more flexible, leverage new technologies or deliver scale. More and more enterprises are looking to cloud computing and are starting proof-of-concepts and migrating real applications to leverage these benefits.
There is a deeper question forming about how business models are impacted by cloud computing and vice-a-versa. Most of the cloud talk to date has been focused around the technical challenges, opportunities and questions. However, not enough has been focused around the business model transformation of the cloud.
For several years now, software vendors have grappled with business model questions and monetization issues as they transition to a SaaS delivery approach. Now with the barrage of cloud services, Systems Integrators, Hardware Vendors and other types of technology firms also have the same types of challenges.
These points are highlighted nicely in the new Accenture Report titled Where the Cloud Meets Reality: Operationally Enabling the Growth of New Business Models. We recently discussed this new Accenture Report with one of its authors, Tim Jellison, and we agree with the business model topics identified in the report.
The Accenture Report identifies ten different business models (ie Licensed Software, PaaS, Appliance Model) and discusses how organizations should address and plan for the operational model changes and how to get started.
There is no question that the XaaS market is growing rapidly. The Accenture Report highlights a Gartner study that shows by 2014, enterprises will speind close to $35B annually on SaaS, PaaSm IaaS and other XaaS models combined. That is up over 300% over 2010.
Explosive growth and disruptive technologies brings more than revenue opportunities to companies like enStratus. It brings questions that finance, technology, operations, legal, marketing and sales leaders need to address.
This is probably the start of the business model conversation, but it is a conversation that has to happen on many fronts.
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