The changing human interaction with the cloud and its importance in our day-to-day lives has created a golden opportunity that businesses can capitalise on, using insights to increase customer satisfaction for both corporates and consumers.
More and more organisations are embracing the IT transformations within cloud, big data and mobile looking how to better serve the needs of their customers.
To maximise the opportunity of cloud, businesses must keep flexible and agile, tailoring cloud platforms to offer solutions designed to individual customer needs, says Nathan Bell, cloud expert and global director of products at Telstra Global.
"Almost every business function can be delivered from cloud as a service, enabling departments to take control over their IT spending rather than leaving it down to the specific IT division.
"For cloud businesses to stay ahead of the trend they must offer flexible and catered business models, especially with mobile becoming an exciting area of growth as consumers become integrated into the wider offering," said Bell.
As providers recognise their strengths they will also identify partnership opportunities with vendors, offering complimentary technology to their existing portfolios.
"For example, businesses that deploy application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing developers to design products based on an organisation’s services, will achieve success," explained Bell.
"Companies can build their web conferencing capabilities into another web-based application, such as instant messaging, enabling seamless collaboration and communication between individuals.
"The reality is that organisations rarely use applications in silos, meaning those vendors offering API solutions that increase collaboration with complementary products and markets, stand to benefit from increased sales with their customers."
Bell predicts that businesses will be increasingly pragmatic as more companies understand how cloud technology is making a real difference to their operations.
