A business organization often measures the value of investments or any move that requires money in terms of the return on investment (ROI). Perhaps it is the only reason that top management will agree to any proposal, especially bold ones like adapting the relatively new and untested cloud computing paradigm. Businesses have a habit of […]
A business organization often measures the value of investments or any move that requires money in terms of the return on investment (ROI). Perhaps it is the only reason that top management will agree to any proposal, especially bold ones like adapting the relatively new and untested cloud computing paradigm. Businesses have a habit of only embracing what is proven and tested while disregarding the possibilities and rewards of embracing new systems and methods. Though, I have to admit that more and more organizations are becoming bolder and starting to embrace new technology, especially the relatively new and smaller ones who are just getting into the business. These are the ones that have less to lose because they have not invested in older systems which are considered as lost investment when abandoned, and they can start fresh with new systems not weighted down with the familiarity of old ones.
Though it is quite difficult to calculate ROI from using cloud computing, we can start by finding returns in the three major benefits area for adapting cloud computing: Productivity enhancement, cost reduction and revenue transformation.
But often, the ROI is not simply measured through the savings in terms of monetary value. The best measurement of the ROI of cloud computing is simply in its VALUE. ROI doesn’t always look very enticing especially when cloud computing is concerned. That is why administrators and CIOs should be looking at the apparent values that come in many forms when employing cloud computing. What they should be asking is “What do I expect to get if I use this service?” and similar value related questions, not monetary related ones. You can set up metrics to determine the apparent value that cloud computing services are able to provide.
Take for example the following:
It is true that ROI is important, but the monetary side should not be the only basis for ROI. The value add offered by cloud services should also be highly considered when contemplating the use of cloud computing, even if it is sometimes intangible.
By Abdul Salam