There are broadly speaking two key stages for cloud service adoption, namely “selection of cloud services” and “usage of cloud services”.
Cloud computing can possibly provide different business values. In general, such benefits can be grouped under three categories as follows:
The following table lists some major types of cloud services commonly available in the market.
Types of Services | Specific Benefits |
---|---|
Productivity applications (e.g. word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail and unified communication, etc.) |
Work anywhere, anytime and using any device |
Business Application (e.g. CRM, ERP, HR, development, testing and hosting, etc.) |
Fast and flexible deployment Agility to adapt for fluctuation on computing demand |
Social Networking (e.g. photo and video sharing etc.) |
Direct communication with customers, especially those of younger ages |
Cloud IT Service (e.g. backup and storage, etc.) |
Off-site storage provides additional resilience Access documents and files anywhere using any device |
To determine the readiness of adoption, the following are some of the major activities involved:
After confirming the business needs and readiness for adopting a cloud service, companies can start their implementation and usage of the service. This would typically involve: