Business broadband in the age of Project Octopus

Continuously controlled communications provision will become necessary, notes Dan Cunliffe

There can be little doubt that cloud computing is now the acknowledged model for the delivery of IT offerings to industry. Almost all sectors are moving cloudwards, even if they were loath to spend on IT in the past.

IT spending will increase exponentially from 2012 onwards. And as the cloud matures and adoption spreads, resellers need to outline their strategy.

Emerging technology reflects this. Google Drive and VMware's Project Octopus are two different technologies with similar implications for the channel.

Project Octopus, which is being promoted as a Dropbox for the enterprise, is primarily about private, centralised cloud storage.

Google Drive, meanwhile, directly encourages the movement of more data to the public cloud, claiming that users will be able to work seamlessly, wherever in the world they are and on whatever devices they wish to use. This ties in closely with the BYOD trend that encourages companies to ensure information exists independently of the user's office computer.

In terms of information access, this is incredibly empowering. But with this empowerment comes obvious dependence on broadband infrastructure, the backbone of cloud.

Never has it been so important to provide watertight, fast connectivity. In this environment, upload speeds must match the downstream throughput and reliability cannot be compromised, meaning even more is being demanded of bandwidth than ever.

Resellers will soon find that unlimited broadband usage and fast upload speeds will therefore become critical to the effective use of cloud.

Whether a wholesaler operates on a legacy network will become both obvious and significant as next-generation services are rolled out across the country.

I have read that by 2016, half of enterprise email users will rely primarily on a browser, tablet or mobile client instead of a desktop client. This suggests that resellers should offer comprehensive and simplified communications packages to customers.

Buying from a provider that can offer both fixed and mobile communications will give customers a smoother operating experience and reduce customer churn for the reseller.

Because companies will inevitably face new challenges when implementing cloud technology and enabling employee access from a number of locations, they will appreciate customer service that allows them maximum control over their data with minimum complication.

Customer service in the cloud era has to be addressed intelligently, and is only as good as the wholesaler provides.

Communications offerings should be in harmony, preferably on a central portal that allows complete availability to view the entire network and drill down to individual connections. This is necessary for cloud facilitators such as Google Drive and Project Octopus.

Dan Cunliffe is head of partners and strategy at O2 Wholesale