Cloud computing can cut business cost by half

Microsoft holds awareness seminar on cloud services and their benefits.


Our Correspondent April 11, 2013
Highest: $9.5b of Microsoft’s R&D budget is devoted to development of cloud technologies. PHOTO: iStockphoto

KARACHI:


By acquiring cloud computing solutions, businesses can save up to 50% of what they spend on maintaining their information technology (IT) infrastructure, officials of Microsoft (MS) Pakistan said during a ‘Private Cloud Immersion’ session for local media at the company’s Karachi office on Thursday.


“Infrastructure maintenance for most IT-oriented companies consumes 70% of their budget, cloud computing can address this issue,” Zafarul Islam, lead technology strategist at MS said, while briefing the media about cloud technology.

Cloud computing is a revolutionary advancement in the field of IT, which only few Pakistani businesses and individuals are aware of, according to Islam. The purpose of the event, therefore, is to create awareness about this innovative platform among the business community of the country.

“Cloud computing is all about building a shared pool of configurable computing resources – network, servers, storage, applications and services – and letting the end user consume these resources, whenever he wants,” Islam said.

Cloud provides better return on investment. For example, one of Microsoft’s clients that deployed the technology reduced its number of servers from 75 to only 12 – cutting maintenance cost significantly.

Cloud computing, according to MS, is a major paradigm shift in how IT resources are designed, managed and delivered – it is distance computing enabling automation of work by minimising human interaction.

Organisations looking to reduce cost and grow at the same time, according to MS press release, can increase productivity, reduce unnecessary spending on software licensing. Cloud technology enables globalisation of the workforce as people worldwide can access the cloud database.

Some five years ago, if one lost his phone he would lose the contacts or data, said Islam. It is no more the case now, and that is the concept of cloud computing, he said. One does not need to install hardware; all he needs is just pay for subscription to a cloud provider – such as Microsoft – and consume the services.

Explaining the types of cloud, Islam said, one can avail a private cloud, a public cloud and a combination of both – hybrid cloud.

In a private cloud the infrastructure is solely operated for an organisation. This is more suitable for enterprises, banks for example, that do not want their data to be accessible to general public. However, in a public cloud, the infrastructure is made available to general public.

In hybrid cloud, some applications are run on customers’ data centre while others run on the cloud provider’s data centre.

For its cloud services solutions, MS has partnered with Fujitsu, the Japanese hardware provider for cloud computing. MS claims to be different from competitors for its core strength is in cloud that is offered on customers’ terms – that is hybrid cloud. “It helps customers build a cloud on their own terms,” Islam said.

Some top-tier organisations – telecommunication companies for example – are already implementing this technology, according to MS officials. However, the market is still not fully mature for this product. There are 20,000 small organisations in Pakistan that will need these services to enhance their productivity as they grow further.

MS claimed to have strong belief in and commitment to the cloud. Much of MS annual $9.5-billion research and development (R&D) budget – more than any other company in the world – is devoted to cloud technologies.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2013.

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COMMENTS (5)

Umer Hafeez | 11 years ago | Reply

Microsoft in Pakistan is playing a major role in increasing the technology savvy people with the opportunities they are creating!

Haroon Rashid | 11 years ago | Reply

Initiatives on a broader scale are on from giants as Amazon for access to cloud, and bouquet of Amazon products, services from the cloud, besides Google already accessible. Nokia's Lumina series with 920 for accessibility of Office365 cloud service is not known to Nokia Pakistan for any info., on Cloud or Office 365 the most authentic cloud in Pakistan for the corporate and business exceeding market capitalisation of the capital markets, the stock exchanges which has excelled and surpassed returns/profits than any other regional market. The SECP should be duly credited for the bonanza in the high returns in Pakistan exceeding India and almost equal to Thailand stock markets. Google cloud with initial free access has gained ground at the individual level of PC users. Microsoft Office 365 is an excellent product, and should be given at nominal costs for a trail period of six months and lately at nominal cost from the $9.5 billon R&D fund to Pakistan customers of Microsoft one of the most faithful and loyal users in the world of Microsoft. This initiative will also be an incentive for a license of Windows 8 at the corporate/enterprisou level from Microsoft. Microsoft Pakistan should put their house to order with Nokia Lumia series with the Cloud Office 365 which is ignored. The corporate/institutional segment will welcome cloud access in Pakistan with incentives and authentic promotion, awareness. Google Cloud free has question marks with the corporate/institutions which Microsoft should capitalise.

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