In anticipation of the New Year, I found a great article on Infoworld, reflecting on this past year’s five biggest questions on cloud computing.
InfoWorld’s “Five Big Questions on Cloud Computing” include:
What defines a cloud service; is there such a thing as a private cloud; will cloud services replace the Microsoft Desktop; do cloud services mean the end of IT as we know it; and does the cloud really enable anything new.
To add a little interest to this article on cloud computing, let’s take their definition of cloud computing, and analyze it in light of Ifbyphone’s service cloud telephony service, to illustrate the similarities between cloud computing and cloud telephony.
What defines a cloud service?
- Self-service- The entire Ifbyphone service can be configured on a user-friendly web interface.
- Commodity pricing- Ifbyphone offers pay per use packages starting at just $24.95/month plus usage.
- Transparent Scalability- Ifbyphone’s service is scalable to allow businesses to seamlessly upgrade according to business growth and newly desired features.
- Shared infrastructure- This is a main factor that keeps the cost structure of cloud services, both computing and telephony, so reasonable. Check out Irv’s Blog,”Thoughts about Clouds,” written by Ifbyphone’s CEO, to learn about the comparison of the developments of shared infrastructure in today’s cloud computing and telephony.
- Machine addressability- Just as most cloud computing services provide APIs to enable customers to address their custom needs, so too Ifbyphone’s cloud telephony APIs enable developers to customize applications beyond the suite of standard building blocks. Read more about app-focused Telcos on Irv’s Blog.
Now that you’re familiar with the definition similarities, I’ll leave the next three “big questions” for you to contemplate…
Is there such a thing as a private cloud?
Will cloud services replace the Microsoft desktop?
Do cloud services mean the end of IT as we know it?
When it comes to the article’s fifth, and last, question,
Does the cloud really enable anything new?
I would answer it in light of cloud telephony with an emphatic “yes”!
Here’s a great quote from the end of the article:
But the most exciting potential of the cloud is as a platform for Internet-based services that deliver entirely new capabilities fast without the upfront costs. Businesses that latch on to new services with strategic benefit and integrate them into their existing processes and infrastructure will enjoy a big advantage in the coming decade.
One may debate whether the advancements of cloud based IVR simply enhance those of PBX boxes and cut costs, or whether they are truly innovative. But when it comes to Ifbyphone’s Dynamic Numbers, Google Integration, and Smart Click to Call, these cloud telephony services definitely offer revolutionary capabilities for marketers.
Related posts:
- Analogies of the Clouds – Cloud Telephony: Cloud Computing
- New Screencasts Teach the Basics of Cloud Telephony
- Voice Quality is Key to Success of Cloud Telephony
- Ifbyphone Acquires Cloudvox, Changes the Game of Cloud Telephony
- Marketing and Ad Agencies use PMI to Transition to Cloud Telephony
