The corporate data centre has had its day and the future lies the cloud'.
So claims leading analyst Robert Bloor, founder of Bloor Research, who presented his thoughts yesterday at a London-based event discussing the move towards cloud computing.
In a speech at the event, hosted by Netsuite, Bloor said: "It's over, it's just over. The corporate data centre will never compete with what is on offer in the cloud."
Key to his argument was the claim that customers could shave as much as 90 per cent from their overheads by embracing Software as a Service (SaaS). He also criticised corporate data centres for their levels of complexity and lack of scalability.
"The fundamental problem with corporate computing is complexity. As soon as you start to add complexity you go into a curve and in IT, it leads you into cost," he said.
He added: "Data centres are suffering from scalability as everything they add is disproportionately costly. Corporate data centres don't scale up beyond a certain point but cloud data centres do. They take the complexity away."
Bloor's views were backed up by the chief executive of Netsuite, Zach Nelson, who echoed his belief in cloud as the next big thing.
"I am more convinced than ever that we are on track and you should run not walk to the cloud," Nelson said to conclude the event.
"Now is actually the time to invest in new systems. Even though the economy is slow now is the time to get your house in order so when things recover you don't have to worry about upgrading in the middle of a busy time."
