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On-premise or the cloud?

The cloud has been identified as one of the big 5

forces which will impact business IT over the next

decade . From its early beginnings at the turn of the

century, cloud computing has decisively proven its

advantages over on-premise software, and become

the dominant approach for delivering software.

Adoption

Formerly, cloud solutions made their way into

organizations through end users who bypassed the

IT department and chose their own cloud solutions

because of vastly superior usability. However, today85% of organizations have a formal cloud strategy,

up from 67% in 2012 . CIOs listed cloud computing as

one of their top priorities in 2013 .

Why choose the cloud over on-premise

software?There is near unanimous agreement based on 10

years of experience deploying cloud solutions, and

numerous that the cloud delivers tangible and

immediate benefits to businesses. The choice

between cloud and on premise software has often

been compared to the choice between consuming

electricity from a public grid vs. having your own

power plant.

Specific advantages of cloud computing include:

Cost

The costs of on-premise software are capital

intensive considering the costs of hardware, staffing

implementation and maintenance. Under the cloud

model, the cloud vendor manages all aspects of

application infrastructure and management, while

businesses users only pay for actual use.2012

2013

67%

8 %

Formal Cloud Strategy

The cloud was again identified as

one of the top priorities of CIOs

in 2013

Cloud

Software

Server

Software

Total Cost of Ownership

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Speed

A typical on-premise software implementation takes

months including planning, implementation and

customization. Cloud software is developed per the

plug and play philosophy. Typical HyperOffice

implementation cycles can be counted in days.

Businesses begin to realize the business benefits of

the software solution much faster, which means the

ROI is significantly better.

Security

Cloud vendors have developed specific competencies

in terms of application infrastructure and

management and data security. Businesses with a

different area of operation have neither the

competency, nor the finances to ensure the same

degree of security.

User Friendly

Cloud computing and Web 2.0 have been twoconcurrent movements in the software industry.

Cloud applications borrow heavily from the

excellence of the consumer world and bring the

same pleasing user experience and interfaces to the

business world. This means end users get their job

done more easily and businesses finally combat the

problem of low software adoption.

Aligned to business

On-premise software heavily depends on the IT

department at every step of the software cycle right

through implementation, management and

customization. This leads to the IT department

becoming a walled-off clique, with decisions driven

by internal dynamics rather than being subordinate

to business objectives.

With cloud software, the IT department assumes a

strategic role of choosing solutions that assist with

business goals, while content owners and end users

manage and customize their own applications on a

day to day basis.

Continuous Innovation and Upgrades

Upgrades are continuous in cloud software. Users

have ongoing access to new functionality in tune

with the changing business and technological

landscape, rather than waiting for the typical 2-3

year upgrade cycle of on premise software.

Since SaaS vendors have access to application usage

data, they can study user behavior to innovate and

upgrade their product. Since SaaS solutions are not a

one-time sell, but an ongoing relationship, they tie

users and vendors in a community of interest,

where everyone benefits from developing the

solution the vendors in terms of continued

patronage from the users, and the users in terms of

technology.

Anywhere anytime access

Since the means of delivering cloud software is over

the public Internet, users may access their software

tools no matter where they are, rather than beingrestricted by corporate firewalls and networks. Since

mobility is one of the drivers of cloud computing,

most solutions are compatible with mobile devices.

For example HyperOffice is compatible with all major

tablets and mobile devices including iPhone, iPad

Android and Windows Mobile.

The result is productivity on-the-go.

Over a 5-7 year time horizon,

SaaS often turns out to be

cheaper by 25-50% than on

premise software.

Cloud computing will be more

secureNeil MacDonald