Do you think cloud computing is easy to understand? If you answered no you’re not alone, at least according to a new study conducted by Wakefield Research, commissioned by Citrix. For the last few years cloud has been making a tremendous amount of noise within the channel and to say that it has been a disruptive force would be an understatement. MSPs have been rapidly adding cloud service offerings to their product portfolios and developing new ways to deliver their managed services.
Cloud has also been making its way throughout end user communities. Customers have been hearing about cloud computing from a variety of sources for the past few years but the new research study shows that customers are somewhat confused by cloud computing and do not necessarily know what the real options are. Here are the highlights of the report:
- 95% of those who think they’re not using the cloud, actually are
- 3 in 5 (59%) believe the “workplace of the future” will exist entirely in the cloud
- 40% believe accessing work information at home in their “birthday suit” would be an advantage
- More than 1/3 agree that the cloud allows them to share information with people they’d rather not be interacting with in person
- After being provided with the definition of the cloud, 68% recognized its economic benefits
- 14% have pretended to know what the cloud is during a job interview
These wide spread views on cloud might mean that what we previously thought about cloud, that it is an easy to understand and powerful marketing device for IT management, may not be necessarily true. So, how can MSPs educate and correct these sometimes false assumptions about cloud?
MSPWorld in October will address the key issues of cloud from the MSP perspective, and the vantage point of the end user. From cloud trust and transparency to effective cloud sales and marketing techniques, MSPWorld speakers and experts will be tackling the hard issues that must be resolved if you want to dominate in the world of cloud.
Sign up for MSPAlliance’s Bi-Monthly MSP & Cloud Journal. Follow us via RSS, Facebook, and Twitter. Interested in writing for MSPAlliance? Please contact us for more information.