The buzz about CRM in the Cloud and how it relates to Star Trek?
I've been asking myself why there is such a buzz around software in THE CLOUD. You might think it was a new phenomenon. Not so. Salesforce.com was founded in 1999. Yes, you read that correctly. That’s 12 almost 13 years ago. And it was never an on premises solution, it was cloud-based. Call it SaaS (Software as a Service), or call it cloud-based software, it’s not running on a server in your office. It’s IN THE CLOUD.
What about NetSuite? That company was founded in 1998. Again, hardly a new company. NetSuite runs both CRM and ERP software in the cloud.
Going back to my original question, what’s the buzz all about?
I‘m only guessing here, but if you think about it, in the early days software in the Cloud was always referred to as Software as a Service, kind of an esoteric name that few people understood. And I’m not saying that people actually understand what the cloud means either, but it’s a name that generates an image. It’s catchier. It’s the opposite of terrestrial. It means “up there somewhere,” or conversely, not down here, not in my office.
Interestingly enough, as a Microsoft partner, we’re glad that Microsoft wasn’t the first to enter the race to the cloud. Microsoft was able to learn from the experience of those who came before.
We're all familiar with the complete introductory sequence, narrated by William Shatner at the beginning of every episode of Star Trek: “Space: The final frontier. There are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
I love it. It makes for great television, but not necessarily for a great business plan. New technologies tend to be buggy and risky. Of course, Microsoft has often been an innovator and a risk taker. Being on the leading edge has been part of what makes Microsoft great. Still, I for one am okay with Microsoft taking a more cautious approach to cloud-based software.
Fast forward to 2011. The cloud is well-established, the problems are better understood, the issues of uptime and security have been ironed out, now is a great time for Microsoft to offer its CRM and ERP product lines in the cloud. And here at Altico, we’ve jumped on that now tried and true platform too.
Please read more about it on several key pages of our Web site: Deployment Options, Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the Cloud, and Microsoft Dynamics GP in the Cloud.
And while you're at it, why not follow us on Twitter @AlticoAdvisors.
Name (required)
Email (required)
Website