Cloud computing enables cost savings

Joe McKendrick of Forbes Magazine recently wrote an article in which he suggested that cloud computing may be a shot in the arm our economy needs. His premise is that "cloud computing enables cost savings - because companies can access technology and applications on-demand on an as-needed basis and pay for only what they use."

Mr. McKendrick's goes on to write:

• Cloud computing is paving the way for the "loosely coupled company" ...Most of these services will be passed through as cloud services, both from within the enterprise and from outside.
• There's nothing stopping companies that are adept at building and supporting their own private clouds from offering these services to partners and customers beyond the firewall. Amazon was an online retailer that began to offer its excess capacity to outside companies.
• As Chris Sacca, a software start-up investor and former Google executive, put it: "The biggest line item in [software start-up] companies now is rent and food.
• Cloud computing is essentially a form of micro-outsourcing. The old model of outsourcing - in which multi-million-dollar contracts to run data centers or build platforms are awarded - is giving way to much more fine-grained, incremental approaches.
• As we ponder unemployment and underemployment in our economy, the availability of cheap cloud computing may be laying the groundwork for a start-up boom, the likes we have never seen before.

VRP Consulting recently met with Joshua Katzele, Project Manager with Critical Power Exchange in Spokane, Washington. In speaking with Joshua, he reinforced with us that Critical Power Exchange has participated in the rapid transformation of businesses moving their brick and mortar data centers to the cloud where they "can access technology and applications on-demand" is Critical Power Exchange. CPE specializes in providing turn-key solutions based around data center consolidations and relocations.

Critical Power Exchange has seen an explosion in the data industry with many companies making the move from standard "brick-and-mortar" data centers to localized "cloud" service based centers. Cloud based services allow companies to divert capitol to other important avenues of long term growth such as research and development. Cloud computing also allows companies to diversify and change with technological advances quickly, efficiently and with a small upfront capital investment.

If your company is planning to move your data center to the cloud, then get in touch with Joshua at: joshuak@criticalpower.com

VRP Consulting, like CPE is in the forefront of the Software as a Service (SaaS) revolution. Over the past 5 years, VRP Consulting has been an industry leader in the development and deployment of Cloud based SaaS solutions on the Salesforce and Microsoft platforms for such companies as Salesforce.com, Cisco Systems and Facebook.

Examples of VRP's cloud based development, integration and support capabilities include:

• As a software development capabilities partner to Rogue IT, VRP Consulting was one of only 30 firms selected recently to participate in a pre-release software developer pilot program by Salesforce for their new Force sites technology.
• Looking to create a custom application for a boutique Napa winery that could manage three-tier trade sales operations, Rogue IT came to VRP with a request for software product development using Salesforce.com platform technologies. VRP provided Rogue IT with the GreatVines platform, an application created entirely in Apex, the Salesforce proprietary platform language, and which operates entirely in the cloud.

If your goal as a business owner or IT Manger is to:

• Create greater agility within your company, with less reliance on legacy IT assets.
• Access technology and applications on-demand on an as-needed basis and pay for only what they use.
• Create a start-up business with a technical solution that is easy to implement and reduces initial costs and ongoing outlay.

Then look to the cloud.

Look to VRP Consulting to create, develop or integrate your successful business in the cloud. From System Integration to Custom Software Development, VRP's partnerships and flexible use of offshore development and local personnel can be a very productive and cost effective solution for your organization. For your data migration and cloud based applications give VRP Consulting a shout at 415-871-1855.

Dreamforce 2011 - Were You There?

VRP has been doing salesforce Apex development, integration and support for large App xChange providers for the past four years. VRP also implements multiple data migrations for large App xChange providers and have it down to a science. One of our primary business goals is attending dreamforce and taking advantage of the opportunities to build strong working relationships.

If your company is involved in systems integration, data migration or salesforce Apex development, then attending dreamforce next year will be critical to the success and growth of your organization.

This year dreamforce attracted well over 40,000 users, IT professionals, trainers and executives who took advantage of 425+ expert-led sessions with everything needed to maximize your investment in the cloud: best practices, how-to's, expert panels, case studies by industry, and more.

If your organization includes a Certified Administrator, dreamforce provided plenty of training sessions to develop those toolsets. Ever wonder what it takes to be a top salesforce admin? 7 Habits of Highly Successful Admins would have been the perfect session for your company. Or how about taking the power of LinkedIn one step further as a sales tool for your company? LinkedIn for Salesforce: Close Deals Faster with Insights for Your Pipeline would have been the session to learn how to integrate both of these sales tools.

Chatter was the huge technical announcement of the week. Chatter is a real-time collaboration platform for users. The service sends information proactively via a real-time news stream. Users can follow coworkers and data to receive broadcast updates about project and customer status. Users can also form groups and post messages on each other's profiles to collaborate on projects. Now Chatter lets you collaborate across departments, geographies, and hierarchies. Salesforce Chatter stands alone as an awesome enterprise-wide social collaboration tool.

VRP attended as many training sessions as we could fit into our schedules. We found what made these training sessions so powerful was that they were presented by industry leaders who had used the technology, software and apps on a regular basis. Their goal as presenters was to provide information and real life examples of how company’s can grow and prosper using these tools.

Finally, VRP learned that dreamforce is more than training sessions and networking. Keynote Sessions included Neil Young talking about integrating salesforce and his interest in digitized music. Also, Marc Benioff of salesforce and Eric Schmidt from Google shared a frank discussion about the future of technology in our lives. Both of these Keynote Sessions were fascinating opportunities to take a break from running around and listen to insightful and entertaining discussions about the future of technology.

And if all of this were not enough, the band Metallica played to a standing room only crowd on the final night.

Consider making an investment in the growth and success of your company. Plan to attend Dreamforce 2012.