Ynema Mangum: The Human Cloud

Today, I was reading a post by Paul Murphy on ZDNet and realized there is a perfect storm brewing in cloud computing, especially for Sun Microsystems.

First, Paul gives some advice to "...focus a lot more effort in the small to mid range market: the people who desperately want stuff that “just works” and now think they have nowhere to go. These people are angry about IT, about something that looks so simple but costs them money and aggravation every single day of the week -and no one’s telling them that Sun has exactly what they need. "  He's right.  Sun's product set -- especially in software -- is largely undiscovered and hasn't reached its full potential in the marketplace, especially as it relates to brand recognition.  

Second, Sun has very publicly announced its investment in cloud computing by creating a separate business unit for it, led by Chief Sustainability Officer Dave Douglas.  Sun's investment in the cloud isn't a "me too" thing.  We've been in this space for years.  But, the open and specific investment in the future of cloud computing is not just exciting for me as a product manager, but should make potential customers and current shareholders tingle in their toes.  Don't forget that cloud computing is largely a trust proposition.  The most trusted brands will do well in this space, and Sun has that in loads.

Third, the economy is on a downturn.  Jonathan recently blogged "Innovation Loves a Crisis".  He clarified this by stating, "You're not going to hear from any of our customers, "let's stop buying technology and hire more people to do the work." They're going to default to the opposite - automating work, and finding answers and opportunities with technology, not headcount. And in that process lies an opportunity for Sun - to engage with customers in driving down cost, driving up utilization, and driving the changes that yield immediate and long term benefit."  The value of cloud computing to a business is in the reduction (potentially down to zero) of it's IT infrastructure by utilizing a cloud computing infrastructure service provider and only paying for what they use.  This value model is too good to pass up.

So, the equation is this:

    Largely Untapped Software Brand

+ Investment in Cloud by a Trusted Brand with Amazing Intellectual Property

+ Economic Downturn

------------------------------

= PERFECT STORM for Cloud Computing

I feel like a storm chaser.  Makes me kind of breathless.