With virtually every IT vendor/provider on the planet jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon, sometimes it's difficult to tell whether a service is truly a cloud computing offering or simply a pre-existing offering that has the cloud label attached to it, such as hosting, outsourcing, ASP (application service provider), on-demand computing, grid computing, utility computing, SaaS (software as a service) and so on.
Cloud computing, in a nutshell, is style of computing in which businesses buy services, products and solutions from a provider. These offerings are delivered via the “cloud”: a network limited only by the scope of what a business needs.
“Users don't need to have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology in the cloud that supports them, merely make use of what the business needs,” explains Hubert Wentzel, Divisional Director, EOH.
Software as a service (SaaS), for example, has seen slow uptake among South Africa's large corporates, mainly because it can't deliver the high degrees of customisation these organisations are looking for. Also, those who handle sensitive data are still uncertain about handing this over to a hosted services provider. SMEs, on the other hand, are more likely to adopt SaaS, for various reasons.
“Many are attracted by the 'pay as you go' aspect of SaaS, seeing it as a way to avoid the large upfront investment required for software licences and hardware,” Wentzel says. “Also, because on-demand deployments are typically pre-configured and pre-installed, they are relatively speedy. The competitive advantage for many small companies is their ability to be agile in responding to opportunities, so a deployment that takes months can hamper this ability.”
He also points out that while some SaaS offerings are cloud, that doesn't make all SaaS offerings cloud services. “It's important to define what is really cloud computing, because there is definitely promise of value, despite all the hype and confusion,” says Wentzel.
“Ignoring cloud computing altogether, because of a belief in your ability to secure your own environment better than a service provider ever could, or jumping rapidly into it because the many claims made about cloud computing have led you to the point of 'irrational exuberance' and unrealistic expectations, isn't smart either,” he adds. “It is likely that unbeknown to many managers, some of their departments are already using cloud computing, and they will eventually need to define a cloud governance programme and make it available to all their internal customers.”
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EOH
EOH is a business and technology solutions provider creating lifelong partnerships by developing business and IT strategies, supplying and implementing solutions and managing enterprise-wide business systems and processes for medium to large clients.
EOH operates in the following three clusters of business units as a fully integrated business:
Technology - Through a number of subsidiary companies, EOH is able to sell, implement and support a range of world-class business applications, including ERP, CRM, business intelligence, advanced planning and scheduling, e-commerce and manufacturing execution systems (MES).
Consulting - Concentrated under the EOH Consulting brand are business units offering services ranging from strategic and business process consulting, project services, change management, supply chain optimisation and education.
Outsourcing - EOH offers comprehensive maintenance and support of client's IT infrastructure and applications through the rendering of full IT outsourcing, application hosting and managed services. In addition EOH offers full business process outsourcing (BPO) services.
EOH has a presence in all major centres in South Africa and operates in the rest of Africa.
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