Cloud computing: The shape of things to come

Outsourcing giant Accenture, which has a strong presence in the Philippines, has tagged cloud computing as a major and viable platform for clients to source technology services in an efficient and cost-effective way. Like electricity and water consumption in homes, cloud computing is a business model wherein services, software, and even hardware available on the Internet can be used on-demand. The Accenture Technology Vision, an analysis of emerging trends and changes in information technology (IT) that influence business planning three to five years down the line, cited cloud computing as a “more flexible model that aligns better with business objectives." Michael Redding, global managing director for Accenture Technology Labs, said in a briefing Thursday that cloud computing has become so efficient that more companies worldwide are now renting services from providers. “In fact, 20 percent of servers are now held by only four companies, which in turn supply cloud computing services to business organizations," Redding said. These companies are Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Yahoo! Inc. Thus, Accenture said cloud computing can serve as a good platform where “test application services", which the company is introducing as one of its offerings, can be made. The company has been busy meeting with different chief information officers to preach the benefits of cloud-based test application services. Manolito Tayag, country managing director of Accenture Philippines, said a sizable portion of its 18,000 workforce in the country is already providing “test application services" to mostly global clients. He said these test services are not yet cloud-based, however. “But we’ll be rolling out cloud-based test services soon." This would be done through an “infrastructure-as-a-service" business model, which means that customers will be given the tools and expertise to test IT applications. Test application services, according to Accenture, are important in today’s businesses since insufficient testing can cripple a company’s ability to compete as a high-performance business. CIOs spend almost 40 percent of their time focusing on running and fixing IT applications and just a tenth of the time testing applications, the company said. “Without adequate testing, a company’s level of productivity for its products and services can be at stake as well as the satisfaction of its end-users," it added. —Melvin G. Calimag/VS, GMANews.TV