Cloud control

The Cloud is revolutionary. As an industry, we’re only just scratching the surface of what we can do with it. In the 30 years Sage has been leading the market , it’s one of the most fundamental changes to the market – and it’s going to affect every one of our customers.

But to pressure organisations into a cloud-only purchase or upgrade path simply isn’t logical for us – or for you. It might make sense to a vendor that can only deliver its products via the Cloud, but we’re not that vendor. Like I said, 30 years of history and millions of customers mean that we’ve got the best experience to draw upon, and customers who want a choice. Every business is different, and every one of our customers are different. We have to be flexible – not dogmatic.

Choice is essential, as is the ability to configure things themselves, or working in concert with us and our partners. Sometimes our customers want an application or service hosted elsewhere, sometimes they want it on a server they can see and touch, and sometimes they want it on a combination of the two. But the most important thing is: customers and users want control and choice. It’s what we strive to provide. That’s why what we sell is available on-premise or in the cloud.. The other thing to consider is that, as companies grow, their needs change. Paying monthly for a cloud service makes sense if you’re small and growing – but then, sometimes, paying once for something you can then use for years, knowing exactly how much it will cost, can also be a sensible option.

With all of this in mind, it’s worth asking the companies you buy from – including Sage – how they intend to serve up the software. What is your total cost of ownership – not just in year one but over 4 or 5 years? Can you switch between renting and buying, or rent some services while hosting or buying other components? Is the monthly subscription you’re going to pay for the first few years going to carry on being the same in the future? Where is your information going to be housed, and under what jurisdictions? Can you still be productive if your internet link is severed by accident? What support are you going to receive? Is that support local or in a distant land, with little or no local market knowledge?

The point I’m making here is that each business is comfortable with different levels of risk, and different means of paying for the services and applications they use – and these levels change over time, too. Having a variety of choices available, and being able to change at a pace that suits your business while knowing exactly what it’s going to cost, are incredibly valuable. That is why choice and control, not just cloud, are the C-words that matter.