IT managers beware: the cloud is now cool

How Apple's iCloud announcement will impact the contact centre

The announcement this week by Apple of their cloud-based services only further cements the significant position that cloud computing already has in today’s IT landscape. While the announcement in itself may not affect our industry directly, its impact will be quite profound.

With one announcement on stage, Steve Jobs introduced cloud computing into the everyday lives of millions of people. By targeting music and home computing applications, Apple will engage users at a much younger age than any purely business IT vendor can hope to achieve. The use of cloud computing by Apple will familiarise the current and next generation of employees and managers with the benefits of this style of computing.

The seamless way that Apple has integrated the cloud into their existing application framework will surely be a challenge for traditional IT departments. Consumers will quickly become accustomed to the benefits of not having their digital assets or applications tied to a single machine or a single location. The limitations of traditional business IT operations will soon become apparent as consumers begin to question why they can’t have the same flexibility at work as they enjoy at home.

IT managers should beware. Apple has placed an “i” in front of the word "cloud" instantly made it cool. Unless today’s IT managers can adopt and respond to this initiative, they will run the risk of looking as outdated as mainframe IT departments did when the desktop PC revolution took hold in the office.

        - Fausto Marasco