Kelly Glynn's LTech Blog

It isn’t easy to look on the bright side of an economic crisis. The unstable stock market is provoking widespread talk of “belt-tightening,” and already thousands of people have lost their jobs. However, there is a silver lining for cloud-based services: companies looking to cut IT spending are starting to take notice of Google Apps and other online productivity suites.

The relatively new concept of the cloud model makes some organizations wary. Up until recently, risk-averse companies and large established enterprises have seen little reason to ditch their trusted offline office suites and move their entire technical infrastructure onto the internet. But now, the economic recession and subsequent panic are sparking an interest in the lower costs of SaaS suites.

The cloud is now appealing to more than just small start-ups who can’t afford Microsoft’s expensive software. Larger companies are seeing the benefits of lower prices, the ability to defer costs, and added capabilities without added investments.

The IT world is not only recognizing cloud computing as a fast, cheap, capable solution, but also a strategic one. Research firm Gartner, which recently acknowledged Google as a leader in e-mail security, identified cloud computing as number 2 in their Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2009. According to Gartner, the biggest benefit of the cloud is the “built-in elasticity and scalability” it offers.

As more proof that cloud computing is gaining popularity, Google Apps continues to slowly encroach on Microsoft’s territory. Vivek Kundra, Washington DC’s CTO, moved all of the District’s municipal employees to Apps after finding it to be a cheaper and more viable solution. For many, the readily available data, collaboration tools, and mobile access features of Google Apps are looking more attractive than ever.

While it's too soon to tell if a mass adoption will ensue, we can at least expect to see many more companies giving the cloud some serious consideration.