By Sramana Mitra and guest authors Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
SM: I believe that charge-back is interesting because it is helpful to the business; do you believe in that as well?
DH: I think that charge-back is helpful. Anything that can put cost data back to business to help us understand what it costs to do business is good. It is not just to keep IT budgets low. With charge back, business leaders understand the true cost of doing business – that’s what is really important. >>>
By Sramana Mitra and guest authors Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
SM: Let’s talk about impact of cloud computing on the IT organization. How do you perceive the impact of cloud computing with reference to your technology strategic planning, its relationship with the rest of the organization and how is the relationship with technology vendors changing? Is the role of your IT team changing in the cloud environment? >>>
By Sramana Mitra, guest author Shaloo Shalini, and Bhavana Sharma
Thus far as part of our Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing (TLCC) series, we have been exploring different pricing models that are in vogue when it comes to adopting cloud-based solutions. We have seen many varieties of pay per use and were pleasantly surprised to come across a real example of ‘pay per percentage of sales’ as one of the models adopted in reality at Inteva for its ERP SaaS solution. Read on for more details on how this pricing model is structured in this part of the interview. >>>
By guest author Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
Functionality is the key when it comes to selecting a vendor for a cloud-based solution as with noncloud offerings. Integration with on-premise software and applications is a big requirement, and some vendors, such as Inteva, are taking a lead in helping customers with providing integrated solutions by working directly with other software solution vendors. This may not be a scalable proposition, and in the long run we expect to see newer methodologies addressing the issue of integration in the cloud and with on-premise applications in a more streamlined and scalable manner. This part of the interview also covers the topic of payback from the investment in cloud computing. Dennis mentions that Inteva’s investment in cloud paid for itself in less than a year. Read on for more details. >>>
By guest author Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
Inteva is a pioneer in manufacturing industry when it comes to deploying cloud computing–based solutions, primarily SaaS, within its organization and cut costs to almost a third of what they were.
In this interview with Dennis Hodges, CIO of Inteva Products, Sramana uncovers several cloud computing trends. One of them is the case of early adopters pushing cloud vendors to address integration between on-premise and cloud services. Once there is significant adoption, this may not be a scalable proposition, and eventually we expect several new players and innovation by third parties and entrepreneurs to help the cloud providers and cloud adopters work out integration. >>>
By guest author Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
Almost 81% of legal respondents in a survey indicated that they are planning to adopt cloud computing in some form. In this part of the interview, Michael brings up some game-changing opportunities in legal sector where entrepreneurs can provide solutions and address law firm requirements for cloud computing–based solutions. Law firms are waiting for solutions that address end to end record and legal information management, tighter controls, better ability to manage stuff and more insights from the vendors. >>>
By guest author Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
One of the areas that is impacted by cloud adoption in an organization is its IT staff. Cloud computing does not necessarily lead to a need for fewer employees, but over the years, it has significantly reduced the need for additional IT staff at Gibbons P.C. The firm did not require additional IT staff over a five-year period during which its business and the number of attorneys grew significantly. SaaS is the primary mode of cloud adoption in law firms. They may be aware of advantages of adopting a private cloud to address their data security concerns but would still like to wait and watch before adopting IaaS or private cloud options. >>>
By guest author Shaloo Shalini and Bhavana Sharma
In this part of the interview, Sramana and Michael discuss the cloud vendor ecosystem in the legal sector in terms of vendors, value-added resellers, (VARs), companies’ preferences in terms of vendors and pricing models. Michael also talks about the money saved by legal firms deploying cloud solutions. He thinks it will still take time time before many of the available cloud-based offerings are mature enough for the legal sector. >>>