Never trust a cloud services provider with a server room

And because so many IT managers and CTOs don't really understand the cloud, it is easy to sell them solutions that don't match even the most basic criteria of being a cloud solution.

What are these criteria? At the most basic level, a cloud solution must be:

• immensely scalable on demand,
  
• immediately flexible, and
  
• you only pay for what you use when you use it.

In most cases, solution providers aren't willfully misrepresenting their solutions. Part of the problem is that those designing and implementing these supposed "cloud solutions" don't comprehend cloud computing, its capabilities, and what makes a cloud solution. How could they, when they don't inhabit the cloud themselves. It takes more than a DropBox folder to place an organisation in the cloud.

Too many solution providers and development houses are trapped in archaic models, employing massive IT departments that maintain a myriad of servers and download countless patches. After all, that's what a technology company should look like, isn't it? Well, no.

Progressive and innovative

Cloud computing allows for progressive and innovative approaches to business within even the smallest organisation, and there is nowhere that this should be clearer than within the companies that deliver IT services and solutions. Because how can you trust a company to provide you with a cloud solution, when it is unable to make the shift to the cloud internally, and it is still saddled with managing and maintaining a traditional IT infrastructure? The truth is that you can't. Which is why it's so important to make sure that your solution provider practices what they preach.

Cloud computing offers scalability and immediate access to inconceivable computing power. And once you understand that this is the true power of cloud computing, you don't need a murky crystal ball to see into the future of technology or your business. Instead, you can make use of this game-changing technology to drive you into the future and differentiate your business. And more importantly, you can choose a cloud services partner to guide your entire organisation into the cloud.