After years of talking to people inside and outside of my company about the benefits of cloud computing, I’m truly convinced that the most important benefit is not cost reduction or the ability to have new servers up and running in a few minutes. Of course those are great capabilities that a real cloud computing environment can offer. But the most important benefit of cloud technology is the ability to move your business to where it has never been before – and do amazing things you couldn’t even consider doing a few years ago.
One use case I’m happy to see the market (including large enterprises) explore more often is the enhanced customer engagement and experience achieved through a combination of social networks and the cloud. Although almost everybody understands how powerful this combo can be, very few are succeeding in unleashing the power of this synergy. Most companies are just scratching the surface in this area. In this article, I want to explore some ideas and useful guidance for those who want to dive into these waters.