I would suggest that this is one of the major questions we get asked about when it comes to the Cloud. Where is your important data stored? This question is one that many companies including Google have been unable to answer. It is one that is particularly relevant in the UK, with some companies holding data for UK based businesses in the US where different laws apply. This is off putting to many businesses. Cloud Hypermarket is UK based but with the US providing the biggest battlefield for Cloud services, occurrences in the states are being watched with interest from around the world.
How Green Is Your Company Email and Company Mobile?
With Mobile phone Giant O2 releasing its Eco rating System today it is interesting that the 2 main business phone providers decided to opt out of the assessment. As the two market leaders, perhaps this is understandable (especially as they have both opted out), as unless they were the greenest phones, the rating could only of been to their detriment. It does seem almost comical though that the two vendors named after fruit (which is surely attaching some sort of green marketing spin) both refuse to be independently assessed on their carbon footprint. Perhaps even stranger that, with the emphasis on green matters today, the trendiest phones on the market will stand out as unrated next to all the other phones on offer at O2. With Sony Ericsson topping the list as the most eco friendly phone, is there going to be more competition for Apple and Blackberry based on green credentials?
Familiarity - BPOS v Google Apps and the Importance of Familiarity
We’ve been learning a lot at Cloud Hypermarket about what the main points of interest for business are when it comes to choosing between the main vendors of email based Software-as-a-Service suites - Microsoft and Google. On deeper inspection there is quite a disparity between Microsoft’s BPOS offering and Google Apps premier, each offering its own bonuses. As far as features are concerned you can compare Microsoft's BPOS and Google Apps on Cloud Hypermarket. However it seems to me that the main difference between the products has very little to do with functionality.The vast majority of IT managers I have talked to have grown an affinity with Google and have spent time focussing on that, whilst remaining fully blinkered about Microsoft’s offering (some seem to refuse to acknowledge its existence). In this case Microsoft’s familiarity seems to have been working against it. IT managers have had years of having very little competition to Microsoft when it comes to dealing with email. They’ve literally had to use Outlook and Exchange. In 2009, 36.7% of all email, both domestic and business, was used through Microsoft’s Outlook client (see chart Outlook 2000, 2003, Express and Outlook 2007). Source: Campaignmonitor.com
Why is Cloud email so confusing?
Further to my very simplistic view of the cloud in my previous post I thought it would be worth elaborating on what the concept of 'the cloud' would mean to small (non IT) business. I went to the world cloud forum in Kensington Olympia this week and also took part in ‘Cloud Camp’. The introductory speech was from Simon Wardley and it was excellent – something that anyone who doesn’t really know about the cloud should try and catch. There are versions of his introduction on youtube and I would suggest it is worth checking out if you want a good basic idea of what ‘the cloud’ is.
