Cultivating Cloud Computing Business: “Shut up and listen” (Part 1)

When the concept of “Hosted IT services” and “Software as a Service” first appeared, many thought the market would explode as a new era of application delivery was born.  In reality, the growth of this particular sector of “Cloud Computing” has been slow.  It has only been in the last 12 months that demand for Hosted IT has really increased.

Extrasys, now in its fifth year of operations, has always been one of the main players in the UK Hosted IT services market.  The Extrasys service is certainly a fantastic cloud computing product.  Our client base still has the same basic business needs and drivers they did five years ago.  So why did the market take so long to develop?  Perhaps one of the most significant factors was effective communication. 

Educating Joe

Hosted IT services have taken a plethora of different names over the years.  Cloud computing, software as a service, application service provider, hosted IT, hosted desktop… the list goes on.  The sheer number of different solutions and the never-ending list of potential benefits seemed to overwhelm Joe Average, who was only to happy to “stick with what I know”.  It now seems we are entering a period of consolidation, however.  Joe’s starting to pick things up – he suddenly seems more familiar with the terms and the impact that such services can have on his business. 

This can be credited in no small part to the emergence of the big kids in the playground (such as Google Apps).  But Extrasys had learned a valuable lesson.  Extrasys have been delivering a reliable service for a number of years.  Everything was spot on technically, but it was important that we were able to effectively communicate the value that hosted IT services can provide, to educate the market place as a whole.  This was where the challenge lay.

Educating Extrasys

Over the past nine months, Extrasys have enlisted the skills and experience of a sales consultancy company.  Under their guidance, our company’s sales & marketing strategies and operations have been improved significantly. 

The consultants have acted as a sales director, mentor, and coach.  As a consequence, the number of real monthly opportunities has escalated and our lead generation campaigns have become slicker and more focussed.  What’s the secret?  It isn’t rocket science.  It isn’t some form of black magic.  It’s the “consultative sales process”.

Listen and Learn

Stop banging on about the benefits of cloud computing.  Rather than trying to make someone buy your product or service, consultative sales involves listening to the client’s problems.  It’s about analysing the client’s business drivers and needs, assessing their constraints and making a recommendation based on those needs.  It’s all about adding value for the client; taking them by the hand and helping them through their decision process.  It’s about clarity of thought, insightful questioning and, above all, listening to the customer.

Until recently, I had little or no experience in sales and have found the past few months a considerably steep learning curve.  Over the coming weeks I’ll reflect on the progress we’ve made and try to summarise the key lessons learned.

Rage against the machine: stop computers destroying our planet

Pressure is mounting for businesses to take more responsibility for their environmental impact.  It’s coming from all directions – the government must meet its global carbon footprint commitments, energy costs are going through the roof and customers are demanding more sustainable solutions.  The ICT industry is no exception, “With a carbon footprint now equal to the aviation industry, ICT, and how businesses utilise ICT, will increasingly come under the spotlight as governments seek to achieve carbon-cutting commitments” comments environmental charity Global Action Plan in their 2007 report “An Inefficient Truth”.

I have recently been working as part of a four-man team investigating the feasibility of a new service offering for Bailey Teswaine.  The project, entitled “The ICT Energy Audit Service” was initiated as part of NG Bailey’s on-going commitment to sustainable building solutions and corporate social responsibility (CSR). 

Bailey Teswaine currently offer Network Audit Services as part of their Managed Services portfolio.  We can analyse the operational efficiency of our clients’ IT and communications architecture and make recommendations for improvement.  The ICT Energy Audit Service would augment this offering by also considering the business’s environmental impact.  In many cases, the recommendations for operational improvement also positively affect a business’s carbon footprint – and when you’re saving energy, you’re saving operational expenditure.

There are a number of improvements that can be made to the energy efficiency of a business’s network infrastructure.  These can range from large-scale network topology developments right through to personal desktop solutions; from large-scale storage area network (SAN) solutions to the use of thin client terminals on employee’s desks.  Remote working solutions, such as the Hosted Services provided by Extrasys, facilitate home working, reduce office space requirements and centralise energy-hungry servers.

To avoid the inevitable levels of scepticism with an “energy audit” service, it is important that any improvements made to a business’s carbon footprint are significant and measureable.  The aim of the ICT Energy Audit Service was to physically measure the client’s ICT carbon footprint, make recommendations for improvement and then implement those recommendations.  A second audit can then be conducted to measure the reduction in carbon emissions and the client’s remaining carbon footprint. 

In addition to the audit service, the project team also researched a number of carbon offsetting methods available through various projects within the UK and internationally.  Once a client’s carbon footprint had been significantly improved, it would be possible to offset the remaining footprint through a relevant offsetting scheme.  A number of options were considered, ranging from tree planting schemes to investment in “green technology” such as wind farms and ground source heat pumps.

The culmination of the project was a “pilot audit” conducted in one of Bailey Teswaine’s own data and communications rooms.  The carbon footprint of the IT equipment was measured, legacy equipment was replaced and the resulting reduction in carbon ascertained.  These simple improvements resulted in a reduction of 1.2 tonnes of carbon per year – a 15% reduction.  The remaining carbon footprint (6.6 tonnes) was offset over a period of 4 years using a tree plantation scheme in Cumbria.  To signify NG Bailey’s commitment to sustainable solutions, a single oak tree was planted (by yours truly) in the HQ grounds at Denton Hall in Ilkley.

A significant amount of market research and expansion to the technical scope of the service is required before such a capability can be added to NG Bailey’s portfolio, but it is undoubtedly the direction in which our business can and should be moving.  By providing such a service, we are not only positively affecting our own environmental impact, but that of our whole supply chain – from our suppliers, right through to the end client.