SILVER LINING FOR ’09?
The year is in full swing and many of us have our thoughts in the
cloud. SaaS continues to gain momentum across the marketplace
as the “as-a-service” model expands to encompass hardware,
software, and some infrastructure functions. In the past, IT para-
digms took time to be scaled down or reinvented from the enter-
prise, but the cloud is trending differently, with small and midsize businesses
leaning heavily on virtualized offerings from the start.
Many of your customers have been living consulting and integration engagements.
in the cloud for years with the likes of Ama- But will the cloud stick around? A leading
zon, Google, and personal online banking. analyst thinks so:
Now, however, they are tapping a range of “A recent IDC survey … shows that cloud
hosted IT solutions that enable them to make services are ‘crossing the chasm’ and enter-the best use of SMB-sized budgets. And ing a period of widespread adoption,” says
hosting your customers’ solutions on cloud Frank Gens, senior vice president and chief
platforms can help you exchange infrastruc- analyst at IDC. In fact, over the next five
ture management work for more profitable years, IDC forecasts spending on cloud serv-
ices to reach $42 billion by 2012—nearly
threefold growth.
“IDC expects the cloud adoption trend to
be amplified by the current financial crisis,”
Gens continues. “The cloud model offers a
much cheaper way for businesses to acquire
and use IT, [and] in an economic downturn,
the appeal of that cost advantage will be
greatly magnified,” and he adds that cost
will be especially important for SMBs.
So while our economic outlook remains
gloomy, the cloud, at least, is filled with opportunity, not rain.
FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR • CECILIA GALVIN
OF NOTEBOOKS AND CLOUD SERVICES
Shipments of notebook computers outpaced that of desktops
for the first time in Q3 2008 (compared with 2007), a rise of
almost 40 percent, according to iSuppli Corp., a market research
firm covering the electronics industry. And the trend isn’t slow-
ing, say experts, what with small and midsize businesses encour-
aging telecommuting and remote work options as a way to keep employees
productive and happy while staying on top of costs.
Ultraportable notebooks, although not the editorial deadline), weighing in at just 1.4
bargain that some notebooks are today, are still pounds and only 1-inch thin. Check out our
an attractive choice for road-weary executives product roundup for other lightweight options
and key employees. And, as Rachel Cericola re- for your mobile clients.
ports in our product focus story “Lighten Up,” Another trend making headlines these days
long gone are the days of simple Word and Web is cloud computing, as Senior Contributing
access alone—today’s ultraportables offer ex- Editor Rich Freeman reports in “Profits in the
tended power and business/multimedia options Cloud.” And the demand for these cloud ser-too. Perhaps the best feature, however, is their vices is being fueled by interest from the SMB
weight (or lack of it). Sony announced its break- sector. “SMBs were bound to find an infrastruc-through VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC at CES in ture model that frees them from buying and
January (which, unfortunately, did not make our maintaining hardware attractive,” Freeman
writes. “Plus, since cloud vendors charge customers only for the platform resources they use,
there’s no overspending on underused server
and storage capacity.”
But that’s only half the story. The other half
is that you can actually make money reselling
cloud services. Check out our cover story to find
out how your peers are doing just that.
Also in this issue you’ll learn about online
marketplaces, where you can boost your income
by selling your services as a contractor on
someone else’s project, or find the help you
need for a large project of your own. But don’t
mistake these services for mere “help wanted”
ads—they vet professional certifications and
backgrounds as well as offer transaction management services to ensure parties are paid in a
timely way after work is performed. Not bad.
