The glass ceiling for IT has been broken when it comes to cloud. Unlike before, companies now have the ability to cut out the hardware, and even the software if they choose to, with a cloud solution that reduces costs and shortens time to market. Companies with options can become more agile to better serve their customers. The cloud is the starting point to breaking IT’s reliance on the old ways of doing business.
Companies often get so overwhelmed with the idea of cloud and integration that completing either seems like victory enough . However, with seamless integration and a cloud that comes along with it, companies can go well beyond deployment to find real business value.
Not All Clouds are the Same
As popular as cloud is for businesses, and as important as it is to innovation, cloud projects are often viewed as daunting because of time and cost. These are the two factors that can torpedo any business venture. Companies often think short term when it comes to their systems, so they fail to recognize the necessity of integration and cloud’s ever-increasing value.
Not one cloud looks the same as another and not every company is at the same stage of their cloud deployment cycle. This kind of variation demands something flexible. Companies need the freedom to test different ideas before deployment and the flexibility of a cloud solution (that does not trap a company into a vendor) reveals how companies can make the most of their investments.
Sometimes, just sometimes, what happens in Las Vegas shouldn’t stay in Las Vegas. That was clearly the case this week when TIBCO CTO Matt Quinn took the stage to talk about the myths and realities of Big Data. In Why Big Data Won’t Make You Smart, Rich or Pretty, Quinn provided his perspective on Big Data based on years of experience in some of the biggest data environments around, like FedEx, Nielsen, and others.
Only a decade ago, India and China fully opened their societies to the West. Instead of telephone poles and landlines, Asian companies met 21st-century challenges head-on by skipping investing in outdated infrastructure for moving directly to smart phones and deploying mobile apps. A parallel can be drawn with the healthcare industry. Let’s leapfrog to 21st-century information technology solutions and stop trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s outdated technology.
Buzzwords like “strategy” and “big data” get thrown around a lot, but when accompanied by real ROI, it’s something special. Last month, the Data Strategy Awards were held in London, recognizing marketers that have used technology to reach consumers in new, engaging, and quantifiable ways. As data is so often a behind-the-scenes story in driving a marketing plan, it’s great to see how companies across all industries are using technology to drive creative campaigns all over the world.
Cloud computing is rapidly pushing companies for new models to virtualize physical resources, allow for more efficient use of servers and networks, and provide an ability to scale resources based on demand. Gone are the days of building infrastructure for the moments of highest demand, which then sits unused at off-peak times. We’re moving into the age of elastic computing that can happen on-premise as 
Symphonies and orchestras are the two things that come to mind when I think of banking operations. Today’s banks have to outshine competitors and provide exceptional customer services; that’s the path of success. In doing so, banks need to harmonize technology and IT services that run and monitor business operations.
