Proofpoint CEO Gary Steele on "The Great Cloud Rush of 2009"

Proofpoint CEO Gary Steele (pictured at left) has an interesting article published this week in Information Management, where he discusses the "Great Cloud Rush of 2009." As Information Management says in their teaser for this article, a "seismic shift in business processes and company culture is necessary to successfully offer cloud services."

In the article, Gary talks about the reasons that cloud computing-based solutions (such as Proofpoint's SaaS email security solutions and email archiving product) have become so popular of late.

Gary argues that, in order to capitalize on the demand for such solutions, vendors of traditional "on-premises" software and appliance products will have to fundamentally change the way they develop, sell and support their products. There's some great advice in this article for vendors looking to move to SaaS as well as customers who are considering adopting SaaS solutions. Here's an excerpt:

"In the rush to meet this demand, many vendors who previously provided only on-premises software or appliance-based solutions are jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon. However, are vendors really grasping the business implications and embracing the changes required to deliver cloud services? Or are they simply repositioning themselves as cloud providers? Just because you have a shovel and pan in gold country, does not make you a successful gold miner.

There are fundamental business changes required that often go overlooked until mistakes are made. Many businesses have to rethink their models and re-engineer their teams, as well as their products, from the ground up. During this time of profound change, these changes will be significant and run deep and wide throughout organizations."

You can read the full article at Information Management here:

Information Management: "The Great Cloud Rush of 2009"