Ordinarily, to an irrigation company, clouds are definitely a mixed blessing.
Waterwell is a service business, part of a sector that generates a mind boggling 3/4 of the UK gross domestic product. It is vital therefore, for the economic health of the nation, that the service sector is efficient, productive and profitable.
Over the last six months we have gone through a complete assessment followed by a total re-organisation of Waterwell. We looked at every aspect of the business and asked the questions; how can we do this better and what more can we do for our customers?
As a result of this rather brutal, cold-blooded process, we have rebuilt the business, from the ground up, hopefully to take us through the next decade. Part of that rebuilding is that our business system will be now be cloud based.
What is cloud computing?
Think of cloud computing as something like renting your IT over the internet; a specialist company provides the server space and the software, you provide the data and your company accesses it all over the internet - you just pay a monthly premium for the privilage.
Why do it?
- It's quick to set up, highly effective and requires no up front capital expenditure.
- It's flexible; if you don't like the software or the company starts to waver then vote with your feet and move to another.
- It is constantly being improved; the provider wants your business so it's in their interest to keep improving their offering.
- It's ideally suited to service businesses especially if your staff are out and about and on the road
From our point of view, it will enable us to provide better service for our customers, hopefully every time.
If this all sounds a bit alien then worry not, it isn't. You are probably already using cloud computing without realising it - think Facebook, Flickr etc
Until next time...
