Business executives told that 80% of companies use cloud

Visitors to the Cloud and Virtualisation Africa Summit attended a workshop by KeyedIn Solutions, the global SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions provider and consulting organisation, which has recently established an office in Joburg.

The workshop "Cloud Computing and the Changes to the Way we see Technology" was presented by Patrick Coulbourne, vice-president of channels and ecosystems and Hugh Muller, director of channels and ecosystems, Africa.

Coulbourne, who has more than 18 years' experience in the technology space, told his audience that although cloud adoption was high, organisations were taking a cautious approach, running small pilots and evaluating them against enterprise deployments.

Despite this, he described the cloud as heralding a "business paradigm shift", as cloud economics continue to lower barriers of entry for companies, driving experimentation and innovation.

Radical transformation

"Cloud computing will radically transform the way that companies approach business," said Coulbourne. "It will impact go-to-market strategy, pace of innovation, customer involvement, partner channels and sales teams and talent."

Currently half of all cloud deployments are SaaS and Coulbourne described cloud success across the organisation as: Project Portfolio Management - Doing the right work; Project Management - Doing the work right; and Project Management Office - Tying it all together.

The audience was presented with a 10-point checklist for cloud computing success, which included the advice to "Start Small, Think Big".

For a copy of the presentation and more information, contact: moc.nideyek@acirfa.