SaS Cost Savings

Cloud and Cost Savings
Windows Azure will cost less than the overall price of running a server internally. Azure will be pay as you go. But customers can get discounts by prepaying. With regard to off-premise pricing, take Exchange Online as an example. It costs $10 per user per month.

Licensing the on-premises version of Exchange Server costs users $3 for Exchange Server per user per month. But with additional costs (including infrastructure, IT staff, licensing and operational costs), Microsoft estimates it adds up to an average of $18 per user per month.

--Doug Hauger, Microsoft General Manager

Point of View

The cloud offers companies the opportunity to improve how they do business by re-envisioning how they utilize IT. It can help companies succeed in three critical areas.


► First, cloud enables companies to be more responsive. In a fast-paced, rapidly evolving global economy, the ability to respond quickly to the needs of customers, markets and opportunities represents a significant market differentiator.

► Second, cloud offers access to technologies that help companies connect. This drives deeper and more effective relationships with partners and customers.

► Third, cloud computing enables specialization. By tapping technologies available as a service instead of owning and managing all IT systems, companies can invest more of their time and resources in focusing on what truly differentiates them in the marketplace

Strategy Recomeneded

► Explore cloud-based offerings – Think of the cloud as one of a number of IT options. Consider maintaining control of IT that creates competitive advantage, and utilizing cloud technologies for more commodity applications. Remember, the journey to cloud is an evolution.

► Pursue a pilot – take a custom application that leverages the instant scale, high compute, or bandwidth intensive capabilities of the cloud. Such a pilot can help a company become more familiar and knowledgeable about cloud computing and how it can benefit them. It might also lay the foundation for a private cloud infrastructure.
► Investigate costs – evaluate costs associated with internal IT versus the cost of cloud services. Such cost analysis will help determine if, and what, should be owned and managed internally, and what could be cloud ready.
► Build a roadmap – assessing your IT portfolio and which applications or services might benefit the most from cloud computing is step one. Try to align your IT strategy with your business needs. Decide how cloud computing can prepare you for the road. And find an organization that can spot the potholes and help you steer past the roadblocks.

There are clear business benefits that can be derived from cloud computing. But getting to the cloud and realizing the benefits of the cloud isn’t a given. It requires a clear plan, sound analysis, and proven methodologies and practice


Credits/source
Defining the Business Value of Cloud Computing
by Tyson Hartman, Larry Beck,