I'm just coming back from Oracle OpenWorld (a post on this is forthcoming), where the most talked about thing throughout the whole week was cloud computing - or just "the cloud". From Larry Ellison's opening keynote, to Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff's session, all the way to Ellison's ending session, the cloud was the star. But the funny thing is the very different approaches and philosophies companies are taking with developing and utilizing cloud computing services.
In fact the only thing Ellison and Benioff seem to agree on when it comes to the cloud, is how to spell it. Benioff described the cloud as being pay-as-u-go, elastic, real-time, 5x faster, half the cost, and multi-tenant. . And while Ellison agrees with the elasticity, speed and cost elements, he definitely didn't agree with the multi-tenancy part - of which he said was a horrible idea from a data security perspective.
Through all the barbs and kidney punches (sucker punches, body blows, etc... which I kinda liked) being thrown by the two, they were both solid on the importance of the cloud to business of all sizes. And while there are different approaches and philosophies, cloud computing is something that businesses are already taking advantage of to make their companies more productive, more efficient and more competitive. Now is definitely the time to start educating yourself on how cloud computing is impacting how business is done - and to see how it could potentially impact the way you do business.
On Tuesday September 28th, MyVenturePad.com and SAP are holding the On Demand: Soaring with the Cloud Virtual Summit. It's a free online event for leaders of growing enterprises who want to capitalize on Cloud Computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to achieve their business objectives. The sessions will enable corporate decision-makers in these organizations to learn how to avoid unnecessary capital costs, get to market faster, and gain a competitive advantage via the 'cloud'.
I'll be participating in the summit to discuss the benefits of utilizing CRM in the cloud, and how it can help small and mid-size enterprises compete in this challenging economic climate. I also have the pleasure of having a "1 on 1" conversation with Drugstore.com's director of customer care, Lisa Larson. Lisa will share how Drugstore.com has built their business in the cloud, and uses multiple online services to engage customers in ways that wouldn't be possible without the cloud.
In addition, John Byrne, the CEO of C-Change Media and former editor of Fast Company and BusinessWeek, will interview Reid Hastings, the CEO and Founder of Netflix. And my good friends from Hubspot are also participating in this event, to share their experiences in the cloud. Click here to see the full agenda and all the event speakers.
Register now for this virtual summit. I hope you can attend this event.