March 23rd, 2009
Yankee Group: SMBs can save by moving to cloud
When a research firm like the Yankee Group wants to know how much a business can save by switching to a cloud-based IT environment, what better way to find out than to use themselves as a test model.
The company didn’t just learn - but actually discovered for itself - that small- to medium-sized businesses can save as much as 80 percent on costs related to corporate wireless, e-mail and messaging by moving to what the research firm calls an Anywhere IT environment. Yankee identified savings opportunities of about $150,000.
The company defined “Anywhere IT” in a January report as “information technology that allows any user to work from any location, over any device, with the best possible experience that the device and network allow.” In a statement, Yankee Group Vice President Steve Hilton said:
Features and functionality only increased with the new cloud-based e-mail and messaging solution compared to the legacy premises-based solution. You can maintain BlackBerry access to e-mail and add support for other devices, including Apple’s iPhone and phones running Java, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian and others.
Also see: Pondering cloud computing at the SaaS Summit
Will economic downturn push companies into the cloud? [video]
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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