The Cloud – What’s that?!

Louise Alderton, 06 November 2010

We can already see that CRM 2011 is an absolute game-changer. One contribution to this movement is the ‘cloud’. A primary offering of CRM 2011 is a strong movement into the cloud. So what exactly is that? And how can it benefit me?

Many products have already moved to the cloud and I wouldn’t be surprised to see almost everything based or at least available in the cloud within the next few years. Its’ just the place to be!

So what it is in non-technical terms is basically internet based computing or ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) allowing you to use IT applications and share information on demand, wherever you may be. It means that you use an application as a service through the internet rather than purchasing and installing a tangible product. You are most likely already using cloud computing on a day to day basis without even realising. Services such as Facebook or a Hotmail account can be considered as cloud computing. Many of you might already be taking advantage of Microsoft Outlook now being available in the cloud – genius!

Cloud computing has numerous benefits which include:

- Reduced cost through the elimination of physical servers and products.
- Time savings. Deployment and maintenance pretty much takes care of itself by the providers.
- Your system will be more reliable due to experts looking after the IT infrastructure meaning you should get faster resolution for any issues and dependable data recovery.
- You will have the ability to access the application and data from anywhere.
- It is flexible and handles change easily.
- It is a more eco-friendly way to work as you will consume less physical and power-sucking resources.

Many organisations are already moving their IT systems to the cloud, and at the moment this could be viewed as a competitive advantage – something worth bearing in mind.

If you are thinking about making the move to Dynamics CRM 2011 the benefits of working in the cloud should be highly considered as the best option for productivity within your organisation. With the constant change of technology choose to embrace the new and maintain a competitive edge!