I think I’ve left my news radar in New York. Microsoft and HP have both made mundane and obvious announcements this week and they’re all over the news.
Don’t get me started on Microsoft and IE 9. With a fast declining market share, Microsoft needs a serious overhaul of its operating system, not a pretty update. And HP entering the cloud? Well d’oh. It’s a massive software company; of course it’s going to enter the cloud. It doesn’t make it cool and it doesn’t make it clever. If anything it’s seriously late to the party.
Whilst it’s been biding its time, smaller and more creative companies have taken the initiative and stolen the march on the industry’s bigger players. Cloud doesn’t just offer business benefits; it has also spurred on entrepreneurs around the country to bring a different approach to IT that feels fresh and different. And unlike the big boys, they know that the real market opportunity exists in the SME sector. That’s where they’ve pitched their wares and that’s where they’re winning.
It’s going to be interesting watching how more established companies tackle the questions that the younger and more creative cloud players have posed. Also I’m interested in seeing how big blue chip companies overcome their hesitation to move into the cloud because if they don’t, then it doesn’t matter what HP says now, cool it shall not be.
Or maybe I’m just grouchy because my alarm went off at 5.30am for the second morning in a row?
