http://www.zenithinfotech.com/

One thing that impresses me about the cloud is the ‘time to market’ fuse is so short. Look how quickly Vlad put a hook to Fonality/Asterisk into SM. And this is integration from the cloud into disparate hardware/software on-site. He did it in a day or two and immediately rolled it out. Nothing broke, it didn’t fail because I might have been using Trend AV, etc. That is responsiveness.

I have been dying to get the next generation of SBS or Centro. I have several clients that have exceeded the 75 user limit, but like the features of SBS. Exchange 2007 has been out for close to a year and we are going to have to wait at least another year for SBS 2008. What about all of the opportunities for convergence with voice, etc. in that time frame? Lost business? Work-arounds?

I see the ‘network plumber’ skills becoming less and less important (and paying less as well) and the skills needed to do mashups and integration as well as to manage the converging space becoming the new high-value ticket. But where does one go to get these skills? Right now it seems like the people doing these things have a natural affinity to it and the developer training that they have synergizes with their innate abilities.

Where do the rest of go to pick up these skills to allow us to be on the leading edge of they hype cycle?

Right now? No. Long term? I’d say bring it on. I recently was building a beta and it kept falling over and I wanted so badly to just get the dang box built so I could get on with the evaluation. Installing cds isn’t a job, it’s a chore.

I have seen the marketplace move from sneakernet to now. Things change.

But there will still be a need for offline, off the cloud.

Regulations and industries will keep things off the cloud as well.

And last but not least… one has to setup the connectivity to the cloud and then enhance the apps up there. Office live is not for the faint at heart.

As was said earlier… it will need a generational change in management before you’ll see enough folks trusting the cloud.

SBSC isn’t dead, just changing. And that’s a good thing.

Hiring people to do stuff that your cloud doesn’t do, is just too labor intensive, and low margin to be interesting for software or search company with such ridiculous margins. How many business owners… how many of us… want to call Microsoft PSS when you need help doing “X”?

I’m not saying that Microsoft or Google aren’t going to try and eat our lunch, I’m just saying that I think it will be mess, that it will disrupt our businesses, and ultimately be a failure… unless they find a way to eliminate service and support as a need completely.

Check out my post touching on this in a bit more depth…

http://addicted-to-it.blogspot.com/2007/08/software-without-service-indeed.html

I am a 50-something myself but I realize that the next 10 years are going to increasingly belong to the generation that isn’t afraid of the cloud… in fact, they will be surprised at those that don’t use the cloud. We (the old farts) trust the telephone cloud, we trust the fax cloud, we trust the cellular cloud, we trust the FedEx cloud, we trust the cable TV and satellite cloud, we trust the health care cloud (should I go on?). Like global warming, these clouds did not exist a mere 20-40 years ago. Look how business has changed in that time. Can you imagine ANY current business that doesn’t embrace all of the stated clouds to get through a typical day?

Looking at VoIP and other technologies that rely on a functioning Internet, I ask myself, “Will my SMB clients allow me to replace traditional POTS phones with VoIP, will they allow me to chuck their server in favor of a SaaS solution in the cloud?” Right now, I think that the answer is NO, but look who my client is… PEOPLE LIKE ME. We have not yet begun to see the 20-somethings start business that need our support. Hmmmm. Maybe the 20-somethings have the businesses (Vlad) but they don’t actually NEED our support! Maybe they are getting enough support from the cloud and their simple hookups to the Internet.

How many young entrepreneurs are starting ‘infrastructure’ businesses? Businesses like machine shops, law firms, medical offices, trucking businesses, etc.? My guess is, not many. These are typically the businesses that need our SBSC help. At some point, these ‘youngsters’ are going to take over or start some of these businesses and I believe that they will demand that the business practices for the companies that they are now running will need to match their way of life, not their grandfather’s.

Sure, the cloud can fail (like 365 Main’s recent meltdown), but they get them back up in a hurry. Your ISP can take a hit (like ours did last weekend in a fierce thunderstorm), but it was back up in a day. Everything breaks.

For those of us who don’t want to become ASPs and enjoy working in the trenches, I think the future is for us to remain good at implementation and support, but we have to also be a trusted guide, knowing what is going on, what is coming and how it can best be put to use by forward looking clients.

–Randy