Today, cloud computing and mobility are taking IT and communications by storm, causing change and growth in the industry. But, it doesn’t take one organization to create the best of breed cloud solutions that customers are embracing to drive value in the market.
“Nobody can do this by themselves. It is all about partnerships and working together to deliver your strengths,” said Tim Marsden, director, Cloud Vertical for Telefonica Digital, in the ITEXPO Miami 2013 Keynote presentation this afternoon.
Telefonica, the third largest telecom operator in the world, knows a thing or two about successful global partnerships. The company’s partnerships have given it the ability to provide coverage in 129 countries. In fact, because of these partnerships, Telefonica’s presence is strong in Europe (31 percent), Latin America (68 percent), leaving a one percent presences in other countries.
Cloud is having such a major impact because it provides a new and innovative way of delivering and consuming IT and communications. So, businesses are increasingly demanding a growing mix of cloud service options with traditional ICT service areas
“The days of every company having their own exchange server and managing it in house are going away, explained Marsden. “The days of everybody having to buy their own servers is going away because it is being impacted by the cloud and virtualization. Instead, businesses are demanding a bigger mix of cloud in a variety of areas.”
Additionally, CIOs are saying it’s causing some challenges regarding data, flexibility and mobility; however, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
Bringing new tools and apps into the business and improving information given to sales people is an advantage that cloud technologies can give to businesses, according to Marsden. Also, operational efficiency is a benefit because it reduces operational cost, while the focus of the business is sharpened by the cloud as well.
He continued, “Because people are getting more used to the cloud and the prices have come down, businesses are adopting it. So, now it is simply a question of how fast your business will adopt it.”
In order to use the cloud to virtualize data, while maintaining control and service quality, organizations must have different kinds of infrastructure. They need to have the same control over the data center as well as the network. According to Marsden, you can accomplish this by using a combination of a local and mobile network.
“Almost every business today is adopting virtualization, but you need to have the right kind of network to meet the issues that you face,” he said. “We see more and more the concept of hybrid infrastructure especially when it comes to large enterprises.”
These days, enterprise mobility has become a key trend, as more enterprises want to increase productivity. They want their employees to work more when they are outside the office, so they give their employees smartphones and tablets to access work remotely.
“Ultimately, the more apps that business can put on their tablets and smartphones – the more they are going to work,” said Marsden.
In order to achieve this, companies need to secure the devices, the connectivity as well as the data on the devices. Additionally, they need to put apps on devices in a secure way. Then, it is important to give more access to the back end IT systems to help create more applications. And finally, companies need to be able to run these apps, so you need to choose the right infrastructure.
The value of having a solution in place in clear, but there are a lot of steps you need to go through to do it properly to see the rewards.
He added, “Partnerships are key to help put together the other pieces.”
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
