Volume 1 - Issue 8 - ICTACT.IN

Tech TalkThe world is becoming flatterwith Cloud TechnologiesAshok Balasubramanian, Head of Cloud COE, SyntelThe 90’s brought in the internet revolutionthat started the unification of theglobal village. Different knowledge sourceson the internet ensured that there was noinformation asymmetry across the globe.A student in Cuddalore, India had accessto the same information as someone inManhattan, U.S.. That set forth a boom ininformation and knowledge-based servicesin emerging economies like India.With cloud computing, I believe, we areheaded into the next dimension of flattening– product innovation. Let us discusstwo key facets of cloud computing.Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providesstandardized high-performancecomputing technology. What was once reservedfor large enterprises is now availablefor consumers, entrepreneurs and researchersalike. In 2012, Amazon’s virtualsupercomputer configured on its consumer-gradeAmazon Web Services, wasranked the world’s 42nd fastest supercomputer!So, what was once available tothe world’s foremost defense and researchagencies is today available to you, me andmy daughter as well!IaaS now provides a development platformand access to infrastructure for anyentrepreneur, anywhere across the globe,to build his/her ideas. Combined with thebooming mobile marketplace, we have accessto create innovative products andmonetization options through differentapp-exchanges. While IaaS removes barriersto entry at an entrepreneur level, itprovides strong cost savings at an enterpriselevel too.Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is anotherwinner from the cloud stable. In my earlydays, it used to take a few million dollarsand a few good months to get an intranetprogram started. Today for a few dollars amonth, we have access to the world’s bestcollaboration platform, and some are freetoo! What does it mean? Collaboration,Supply Chain, CRM, Analytics, Help Deskand many more available – you don’t needa million dollars, many months and noreinventing industry best practices eachtime.How does this help? An apparel vendor inIndia can work corroboratively and seamlesslywith a design house in Italy and abuyer in the U.S. At a very low cost andwithout up-front investments, they get acommon platform that accelerates productivityand trade.Cloud is moving past the initial hype cycleand emerging as the next powerhousein fuelling innovation, collaboration andthereby economies. Ably coupled with theemerging mobile/social market place weare poised to see exciting times ahead ina new flat virtual world and global commerce.June 2013 I 26