More SMEs are embracing cloud services for ease of use and ability to consume computing resources as they need, says Cisco’s Kim Majerus.
Speaking with Siliconrepublic recently, Cisco Ireland country manager Kim Majerus emphasised the growing importance of cloud computing, especially for SMEs.
“One of the main advantages of cloud computing for SMEs is that it allows them to focus on their business instead of getting sidelined by IT,” Majerus explained.
“Small businesses have embraced cloud services for their ease of use, as well as the ability to access technology innovations that might have been out of reach due to the IT investment required.
“The cloud has enabled a lot of new technologies and capabilities that can be delivered to small businesses in a subscription payment model that makes sense for them.
“Applications in the cloud have been developed with the small business user in mind. You purchase only what you need, paying for the amount of computing resources you consume or the number of employees using the hosted software every month. Applications and resources in the cloud are scalable, so you can easily increase capacity or add users (or vice versa) at any time.
“Cloud computing can also give small business owners a competitive advantage by making their company’s IT more flexible. Cloud apps on the internet are accessible wherever the employee is, so those apps can change and evolve and go with them on mobile devices,” Majerus said.
Cisco and BMC strategic alliance
It emerged recently that networking giant Cisco and business software player BMC have forged a strategic alliance to develop and sell new solutions for large-scale multitenant cloud computing infrastructures.
Under the alliance, the two companies are aligning product development road maps and technology architectures to offer worldwide customers a complete suite of solutions that simplify and automate the delivery of cloud services.
“Cisco and BMC have a common vision for advancing cloud computing with unified infrastructure combined with seamless management,” explained Padmasree Warrior, CTO, senior vice-president and general manager, Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business for Cisco.
“The Integrated Cloud Delivery Platform enables our customers to deploy end-to-end IT services running on a cloud infrastructure that spans networks, systems, storage and applications,” he said.
