Cloud adoption has taken off in the past year. Be it public Cloud, private cloud or the hybrid Cloud, adoption of remote server based solutions have sky rocketed since late 2012. While adoption is well under way for consumers and corporations, there are still a few methods providers can access which will increase adoption at a faster clip.
1. Lessen the Impact of Data Centers
You have heard it before. Cloud Computing represents the greenest of all IT technologies. While it remains true that data center servers are more efficient than individual servers running in the closet of an office or a home, data centers still manage to eat up a ton of energy. As noted by various publications, some data centers, depending on their size, will consume more energy per year than an average American city.
Suffice to say, that isn’t that green.
Due to that staggering fact, one of the many things data center providers can do to accelerate the adoption of Cloud services is to reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact of data centers around the world. By shrinking energy impact, providers can truly market their Cloud solutions are environmentally friendly.
2. Sell the Solution, Not the Tech
One of the biggest issues we have with tech companies, be they in the Cloud or not, is the basic principle of selling the tech as opposed to the solution it resolves. All too often, Cloud providers are very keen on talking about the technical capabilities of their servers, their SSD’s, their data center infrastructures and the throughput they have. While this is all fine and dandy for the tech consumer, the majority of the marketplace knows nothing about data centers, remote servers or Cloud infrastructures.
As such, to increase adoption rates of Cloud services sell the tech as the background. Use the technical solution to get a consumer in the door. Use the solution that Cloud tech provides as the avenue to turn that consumer into a loyal brand advocate.
3. Package Your Cloud
You want to sell your Cloud solution at a higher clip? Throw in DevOps capabilities. You want to grow your private Cloud service with corporations around the world? Give them the tools to monitor workloads and server performance under high stress. You want to build an empire around your scalable hybrid Cloud solution? Give consumers the tools to easily switch workloads between infrastructures and monitor how those workloads are performing.
More and more, consumers are looking not only for the Cloud infrastructure but the tools to enable them to make their chosen Cloud deployment stronger and more usable. If you want to increase Cloud solution sales, package your Cloud with great tools.
4. Be Honest About Security
When it the last time you heard Google openly state that Gmail is wholly secure and safe? When is the last time you read about Facebook or Linkedin openly stating their Cloud based solution is perfectly secure? You never hear it because the companies know the truth and the last time we looked, consumers didn’t care.
For Cloud adoption to continue to rise, IT providers have to start getting honest about security concerns facing the industry by a) stating the obvious and b) working to fix the issues. We all know certain parts of the Cloud aren’t secure. Now it’s time to fix it. Consumers will appreciate the honesty.
5. Make it More Affordable
This one is simple. Make Cloud services for consumers and corporations more affordable. At the end of the day purchasing decisions boil down to two things: need and price. Consumers and corporations need Cloud web hosting services. All evidence shows this much.
Now it just comes down to a matter of price.