CLOUD COMPUTING

Tool Educates SMBs on the Cloud

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 02-29-12 | Comments

A new app for the iPad contains key tools to help small and medium-sized businesses learn more about the benefits and risks of cloud computing. The interactive app includes case studies and interviews with cloud experts.

Although small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are adopting cloud infrastructure in some areas�like business-intelligence applications�educating SMBs about the long-term benefits of the cloud has proved difficult in the past. With a vast number of cloud-related resources, a new app could help SMBs learn more about the technology.

While more SMBs are adopting cloud computing than ever before, recent surveys show that two-thirds of SMBs are still hesitant about the technology, with security concerns remaining key. Yet recent cloud developments demonstrate that cost and time benefits outweigh the risks.

IBM�s app addresses key debates like public vs. private cloud and what options are best for SMBs.

Improved education about the cloud should make the transition easier and more popular among SMBs, and that�s where the new app steps in. Called IBM Cloud for Midsize Business, the tool simplifies the technology and describes the pros and cons.

The app is designed for the iPad, a device many SMB owners now utilize for daily tasks. The app breaks down basic concepts like �What is Cloud?� and �Why Cloud?� It also explores debates like private vs. public cloud and what services a cloud infrastructure should offer.

Moving beyond basic cloud information, the app specifies its tools for SMBs. It explains which cloud options are best for midsize businesses and what specific security concerns should be addressed. Such specificity aims to make cloud information more relevant and easier to understand.

Critically, the multimedia app contains interactive charts and diagrams, as well as interviews with cloud experts. It also provides case studies to put abstract cloud concepts into real-world situations.

The app, which joins a suite of IBM business-education tools for the iPad, should help encourage more SMBs to migrate to the cloud. It should also prove useful to educate workers at companies where the cloud is already deployed.

Are you involved with an SMB? How do you find attitudes about the cloud evolving as better education tools become available?