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Watch Out for False Cloud Claims

Cloud-based enterprise solutions are hot: all the research backs this up. Juniper recently published a study that predicted that the overall enterprise cloud computing market will reach $90.7 billion by 2018 as companies adopt cloud-based solutions. A considerable chunk of these – about 59 percent – will be software-as-a-service-based solutions.

Companies are moving to the cloud for a lot of reasons. They like the idea of putting newer, more updated technology in place without a large upfront capital investment. They also like the shortened implementation time (from months and even years - to days), the scalability, the remote administration, the mobile components and the disaster recovery potential. They also like the ease of integration, something they’re unaccustomed to from their days of cobbling together old legacy systems, and the fact that upgrades are automatic and part of the subscription costs.

Given the impressive growth of cloud-based solutions, however, many companies are jumping on the bandwagon. According to a recent blog post by Monet Software CEO Chuck Ciarlo, many of the companies claiming to be cloud simply aren’t, and some customers are falling victim to spurious claims.

“Cloud computing is not a term easily defined, but the differences between a ‘cloud pretender’ and the genuine article become apparent when comparing relative features and costs,” said Ciarlo. “Some of the attributes that should be standard with a cloud-based platform include virtualized scalability, the ability to instantly self-provision and auto-provision resources, a shared infrastructure and easy, automated upgrades.”

One way to spot a pretender is to examine the way the company is demanding you pay for the solution, says Ciarlo. A company buying a real cloud-based solution should not be presented with bills for upgrades, maintenance and additional server capacity.

“While it would seem the differences would be obvious, many companies have selected cloud solutions only to find themselves in a fake cloud situation that lacks the benefits of the real thing,” said Ciarlo. “Over the next few years call centers will recognize their error and make the transition from simple virtualization of client-server software to a genuine cloud-based solution.”

For this reason, companies should choose solutions with care, approaching trusted providers or resellers and doing their homework before choosing a solution. Otherwise, they might find themselves paying for the benefits of the cloud – and then some -- without realizing any of the benefits.