When 1,500 CEOs worldwide were asked in late 2010 about technology changes, 80 percent said their environments definitely would become much more complex, and over half admitted their companies were not prepared.
“Unfortunately, the information technology infrastructure at many large companies only makes this challenge more difficult, writes renowned technology observer Andrew McAfee in the Harvard Business Review. “Their technology environments actually impede their ability to sense change and respond quickly. While there is no simple fix for this problem, help is at hand in the form of cloud computing, a new suite of digital tools and approaches.
“Cloud computing is a sharp departure from the status quo,” McAfee goes on. “Today most companies own their software and hardware and keep them ‘on premise’ in data centers and other specialized facilities. With cloud computing, in contrast, companies lease their digital assets, and their employees don’t know the location of the computers, data centers, applications, and databases that they’re using. To advocates of cloud computing, that’s the whole point. Customers don’t have to concern themselves with details; they just rent what they need from the cloud.”

