Alexanderrosse.co.uk, the UK’s first e-accountancy, attracted the attention of the futuristic, Google-centric entrepreneurs who founded Cloudreach. They are one of the first to provide IT services for businesses that realise the future of Google Apps. Many say that this technology threatens the existing domination of Microsoft Office. So how do these futurists see things panning out in the coming year?
“Alexander Rosse has a business model similar to ours, where simplicity is a key feature. People and businesses tend to over-complicate things, which does not add value.”
“Cloud computing, which embraces collaboration, is the way forward. In the future, information will belong to a person, not a device. There is a paradigm shift in most markets every 10–15 years and businesses have to be prepared to push the boundaries of convention,” commented Pontus Noren, co-founder and director of Cloudreach, one of the first IT companies to serve cloud computing technology.
Both Cloudreach and Alexander Rosse operate in an online office environment, sharing appropriate files and viewing their colleagues’ edits in real time.
“Online collaboration is just like sitting at the same meeting table, discussing and altering various documents, calculations and media files. This could revolutionise currently accepted business overhead levels,” explained Rashesh Joshi, director and co-founder of Alexander Rosse.
Pontus believes that in five years 80% of SMEs will use ‘on demand’ email solutions such as Google Apps.
“Running what really is a commodity service in house is simply not economically justifiable today or in the future. A hundred years ago, factories produced their own electricity, now only a handful of institutions have back-up electricity production capabilities. Within 10 years SMEs will not own hardware or software, everything will be available through a utility service-based model,” concluded Pontus.
Perhaps only a few players, such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and the likes of telecommunication industry giants, AT&T, NTT, Deutsche, Telekom or BT, would have the capacity to deliver in this way. Maybe IBM Global Services will emerge as the infrastructure provider of the cloud computing sphere. Watch this space.
Pontus Noren
