(originally published March 15, 2012(
Whew! What a busy week. I’ve just come back from a whirlwind tour of our country describing the results of an IDC study on the impact that the Cloud has on Jobs. These visits were capped off with the exciting opportunity to share the news on CBC’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange show. You can see me at 40:30 at this link.
While the tour lasted only a few days, I’ve been crisscrossing Canada (yes those are 25 flight segments since mid-January) meeting an increasing number of businesses that are harnessing the cloud to grow their business. It’s been really invigorating to see so many great innovators. What’s really great is that while those of us in technology appreciate the impact that it is having, perhaps the bigger impact that it has on business is really starting to be appreciated. And this impact is not just on tech companies, it’s on all types and sizes of business. By making computing as easy to get and use as you would electricity from a socket, businesses can focus on their ideas, their innovation and the next big thing. By helping larger businesses run their computers more efficiently by following the steps used by Microsoft to deliver services to 100’s of millions of people allows larger businesses to use those resources for innovation instead of mundane maintenance.
I know that some people will be skeptical about the idea that jobs are going to grow across the economy and that roughly one in five jobs will be attributable to cloud computing. If you look at the great innovation we’ve encountered across Canada, you’ll not only see the IT aspects, but also the opportunities to grow jobs in other industries. Here are the examples.
http://www.mediavalet.co/ – Mediavalet makes it easy to share photos, audio and videos around the world. Thousands of hotels use this service to provide potential visitors a glimpse of what’s waiting for them as they plan their trips online. In this case cloud can help build jobs across the tourism industry as it brings in more visitors, allows hotels to focus on their business and builds new marketplaces.
http://www.newspaperdirect.com/ – Newspaper direct delivers over 2000 newspapers in 95 languages around the world to a variety of electronic devices. Not only does the cloud fully enable the delivery of the content, it also helps newspapers reach a larger audience allowing them to hire more reporters, advertisers and editors.
http://www.opreie.com/ – By taking the paperwork out of real-estate transactions, Opreie’s solutions allow real estate professional focus on their clients and building out their business. By reducing the time and complexity of the transactions, real estate professionals grow their office and take on more clients.
http://www.cortex.net/ – Cortex Business Solutions harnesses the cloud to automate and streamline their purchasing process. With today’s increasing pace of business, all businesses need confidence and predictability in their procurement. Through reducing the costs associated in this critical part of their business, organizations can invest in their core capabilities; be it energy exploration, transportation or environmental services.
http://www.connect2fans.com/ – Today’s entertainment marketplace has dramatically evolved with talented people now more connected with their fans than ever before. By making it really easy for build marketplaces to bring talented people and their fans together, Connect2Fans helps talented people spend more time on their passion and reach the community that appreciates it.
whatsnexx.com – Whatsnexx provides a cloud based one-stop marketing environment talking the complexity out of all aspects of marketing campaigns, professionals can focus on the more important elements of reaching their audience. This helps marketing firms hire more artists, writers and communicators in place of computer support staff.
http://www.redwoodglobal.ca/ – Talented people are the lifeblood of today’s economy and Redwood Global helps organizations find the very specialized talent to be successful. By moving to O365 cloud based office tools, Redwood Global was able to avoid overhead associated with computer management and focus on helping clients find the people they need.
http://www.resaas.com/ – Social networks have always contributed to individual and business success. By bringing together the often distributed real estate community in their own social community, Resaas connects professionals so that they can be more effective in their practice and grow their business.
www.gaugemobile.com/ –The Cloud empowers consumers more than ever before as it provides a wealth of information at their fingertips. 2D barcodes are making it easier than ever before to link the physical world and the virtual world. These connection symbols are appearing on any number of places and things across the economy. GaugeMobile makes it easy for businesses to harness the great capabilities of barcodes and the emerging wireless equivalents (NFC) to grow their audience and customers. This can help everyone from organic food creator invite more people to savour their creation following to artists building a greater following by making it easier to appreciate the background to their works.
I think you’ll agree that while cloud technology certainly provides a foundation for the innovative companies listed above, it provides a springboard for jobs across the economy.
Thumbtackhead 