This month Twin Lights' founder Scott Mckinney talks about the unsung hero of the of the SaaS world. It's a key element that makes this whole little dream possible and yet, the more one looks around the more it seems to be neglected or simply unaccounted for in changing business models.
Connectivity in a Cloud Computing World
An excerpt:
Cloud Computing, Software-as-a-Service, On-demand applications, Web 2.0 - whichever handle you wish to apply to it – continues to press forward as the next major development in IT.
The concept of leasing an application, hosted and managed by others, and delivered over the Web, offers customers many new benefits…small enterprises gain access to functionality they couldn’t previously afford, while large enterprises can align expenses with use, and control run-away technology costs. And all benefit from improved collaboration and new features provided by Web 2.0 technologies.
The trends are undeniable. CRM (Salesforce.com) was one of the first significant pioneers of SaaS functionality, proving enterprises will move critical functionality outside the firewall. And every day more applications are being launched through SaaS models while more and more enterprise users are signing up. Gartner group estimates that 25 percent of new business software will be delivered via a SaaS model by 2011.
Yet, this mega-trend has hidden and significant consequences on the corporate network.
- Traffic patterns & traffic load change
- Lack of network redundancy becomes exposed
- Universal accessibility of these Web applications is expected
- Network performance planning becomes more critical
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