Small Business Technology Blog

Monday, June 8, 2009

The rise of cloud computing

I've often ranted about all the reasons why small companies have advantages, the nimbleness, ability to take risks, ability to adjust and re adjust on the fly and now the recent changes in technology add this?

The rise of cloud computing, allowing young firms to let loose the binds of buying their own high end server equipment and software, they no longer need to raise the capital or take on the debt of ten's of thousands of dollars in high end equipment.

For years I've been specializing in minding ways to let small companies compete in the big companies swimming pool, and now they've finally stuck a label on it, call it cloud computing, call it economies of scale, open architecture or even a level playing field, what we have here, is the ABILITY to communicate.

Likewise the webification of the supply chain in many industries from electronics to apparel has meant that even the tiniest of companies can now order globally just like the giants!

As the amount of data at a company's disposal grows, the opportunities to exploit that data multiply.

In the same way a musician with a laptop and some tune in his head can accomplish what record labels are doing with hundreds of thousands of dollars of hardware, software and people skills. An ambitious engineer can now imagine, model and build that new gadget with little more than that same laptop and some time on his hands.

"Involuntary entrepreneurship" is now creating tens of thousands of small business and a huge market of contract and freelance labour. Many of them will take full-time jobs again once they become available, but many still just won't.

The NEW new economy of scale has change the playing field yet again for small business, so get out there and play!

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