Cloud technology impacts businesses differently depending on their size, says Pathak, Technoforte's director of business development. Typically, new technologies enable big enterprises to become bigger and more efficient, but Pathak says smaller companies have actually adapted cloud solutions faster, enabling them to gain ground on their larger competitors.

“This is a fundamental change we are seeing,” Pathak says. “Smaller companies that have not made the same large, upfront IT investments as large enterprises can start pretty low with cloud applications and pay as they grow.”

There are operating savings as well with cloud solutions, he says. “If you are fine with having an application maintained off site, you don’t have to maintain it yourself and can focus more on your core competencies. The cloud provider or service provider makes sure your systems are up 24/7.”

Being a public infrastructure, the cloud also gives companies elasticity in terms of IT resources, says Pathak. They can add capacity at peak times and release it when not needed. In comparison, many large corporations today have designed their IT systems for anticipated peaks over the next five years, though that capability is unused most of the time.

Pathak also notes that cloud solutions offer a much more elegant way of sharing information, which is very important in supply chain operations. “A lot of supply chain solutions require that data be interchanged, published and shared across multiple partners and stakeholders, and the supply chain is efficient only as long as the right data is being shared at the right time,” he says.

With large enterprise systems, publishing and data sharing must go through many connections and interfaces, but cloud solutions enable partners and suppliers to get information through a portal. “Everyone across the supply chain looks at the same copy of the data,” he says.

Cloud solutions will continue to improve and to add features like customization, says Pathak. As this happens, they will be adapted by more companies of all sizes.

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