Technology, as we all know, is evolving at a ferociously rapid rate. Terminologies which are buzz words today become obsolete tomorrow. Even technology company names have taken on completely new meanings. Take Google as an example – once the name of a recognised company providing a search engine, Google is now a verb in the dictionary. One renowned online dictionary resource offers the following example – “on Sunday she googled an ex-boyfriend”. I bet even Larry Page & Sergey Brin didn’t see that coming when they opened their doors back in 1998.
Moving on to more recent times and it seems like only a very short time ago that Cloud Computing was being used to describe a cutting edge technology, the latest ground breaking development in the IT movement. Some marked the year 2006 as a major milestone for cloud computing, for others it’s 2008 (even though in reality it has been around for many years e.g. Salesforce founded in 1999). However it is only really since 2010/2011 that Cloud Computing hit top gear.
There are many advantages to cloud computing such as:
-
Enhanced Mobility - the mobile office is now very much a reality. Information such as emails, presentations and CRM systems can now be accessed from virtually anywhere on a range of different devices, all in real time.
-
Security – hosting your data in the cloud simply means accessing it from a virtual data centre. Because reputable cloud computing companies have greater resources they are often able to offer levels of security that an average small to medium sized business may not be able to afford.
-
Subscription based models – The vast majority of companies providing cloud services/solutions offer a subscription based payment model. This opex versus capex model is highly attractive to many organisations.
-
Resilience - Most Cloud environments should deliver 99.99% uptime.
However “The Cloud” is developing into a completely generic term. It is becoming so broad it is losing all sense of meaning. There are public clouds, private clouds, hybrid clouds, remotely hosted private clouds (an oxymoron if ever there was one!). Add to the mix the ever evolving world of the IT acronym and we are presented with SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, DaaS – an entire alphabet of “aas”!! The result is an end user marketplace with ever increasing levels of negativity, fear, confusion and doubt. Even take the latest buzz word in the IT industry - “The Internet of Things”. How vague can you get? Yet if you are travelling to events such as The Mobile World Congress or Cloud Expo Europe you can be sure to get an overdose of the Internet of Things, or IoT.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the future lies with companies shifting towards a hosted IT model. The pros do seem to outweigh the cons and the industry is fast becoming congested with “Cloud Companies”. So if you are a company offering cloud based services or solutions, you might have noticed that the terms ‘cloud company’ or ‘cloud solution’ mean less and less to your prospect when you start engaging with them. It is therefore imperative that you have specific, defined sales messaging. Announcing to a prospect that you are a “cloud specialist” is now meaningless unless you can relate your message to a specific business requirement. This is especially relevant when conducting phone based sales lead generation activities. With more and more companies providing a range of cloud services or solutions, companies engaging in campaigns to generate sales leads over the phone need to be specific and differentiate themselves from the other providers.
Know exactly how your solution can solve a business need and build specific sales messaging around this need. Stand out from the cloud and reap the benefits of cloud computing!
Maven TM is a specialist B2B Telemarketing and Sales Lead Generation company. With hundreds of sales lead generation campaigns completed successfully for technology companies, including cloud computing service providers, Maven TM consistently helps companies achieve their sales strategy. For more information, please contact Maven TM at info@maventm.com.
