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| The evolution of the technology industry towards the cloud |
Technological take on the cloud - Five Days
Marimar Jiménez writes a piece on technology industry trends in Cinco Días, "Technological Cloud Compromise" (pdf), which reflects some of my comments on Dell's recent acquisition of EMC2, and For whose development he sent me some questions via email.
What we are experiencing is precisely this phenomenon: the development of the cloud by companies initially removed from the so-called "corporate computing", such as Amazon or Google, coupled with the subsequent but decisive leap given by Microsoft in the same direction, is Leading to many of the companies that were dedicated to the sale of hardware to that market are completely out of play, pending the renewal of millionaire contracts that, in most cases, will never arrive. Yes, the cloud is obviously based on hardware, but that hardware is no longer marketed by the HP, EMC2 and Dell in the world, but by components much cheaper than the Amazon itself, Google or Microsoft develop for themselves with factors Critics, fundamentally, minimize their cost and maximize their flexibility.
The result is a sharp shifting of value from the "iron" market to that of services, which many are still trying to understand, and which leaves out more than one.
Then the questions and answers I exchanged with Marimar:
Q. What are the major trends that are setting the pace of the IT sector today?
A. Everything indicates that the IT sector is marked by the transition towards cost variability, outsourcing, lightness and the reduction of investment in fixed assets. Large corporate contracts with hardware companies go down in history, and customers now choose to rent capacity instead of buying machines, by datacenters maintained by specialists, that allow to pay only for the capacity of processing, storage and the bandwidth Which is required at all times, which offer a much higher security (in the hands of specialists) and much more costs.
Q. It seems clear that "iron" is losing weight in favor of services and software, but this phenomenon is the same in the consumer segment as in the business segment?
A. The hardware is a business already practically commoditized, with the great majority of its processes relegated to the efficiency in costs, with generally very scarce margins and little money to win. Compete in this segment is exhausting, and only a few brands do well. In the business segment, the large servers of years ago are moving to the cloud, and the supply contracts involved disappeared.
Q. What companies and why are they better understanding the evolution of the sector towards the intangible?
A. Without a doubt, Amazon, who developed a product from their own needs and subsequently made it into a market leader and continuous learning experience. The growth of Amazon Web Services is impressive, a true case study, and says a lot about the flexibility of a company that started selling books. Microsoft, on the other hand, has carried out a very important refocusing process, has the cloud as one of its top priorities, and is getting very competitive in that area.
Q. And who are the big losers?
A. The big losers are the protagonists of what was called "corporate computing", the suppliers of machines, components and software that now happen to be in the hands of a third party that rents them. Large cloud competitors develop their own technology, scale better because of their focus, and are often not customers of corporate suppliers because they tend to create their own infrastructures to gain control over all aspects that can be optimized.
Q. How does it fit in all this evolution concepts that seems to be marking the roadmap of all companies in the sector, both hardware and services or software such as the Internet of things, 3D printing, robotics?
A. The internet of things requires generally simple and inexpensive components, and connectivity alternatives that make sense. A chip tucked into a bicycle to be able to eventually locate if you are stolen can not connect just like a smartphone, because the needs are completely different. This marks a focus on very light services, almost omnipresent, with narrow margins to boost the creativity of entrepreneurs.
Q. In the end, with this sector towards the intangible, will companies be imposed that do everything, such as Google, Facebook, Amazon or Apple, or the very specialists? Or both?
A. The ecosystem conforms to large companies operating in global environments, surrounded by an entrepreneurial fabric that develops alternatives based on a close proximity to the customer, creativity and needs detection, etc. I do not think that changes especially, it just becomes more efficient.
Q. And in this context, what about the challenge of the European digital single market? It seems that progress and suddenly not, with the last sentence on the transmission of data, for example.
A. The European digital market is a huge need because its lack of development deprives companies of the continent of a huge advantage, a field of development close to reach scale and competitive advantages.
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