Home topics technology Cloud Tech Cloud Why choosing the cloud isn’t just a technical decision Loryan Strant August 2, 2012 The recent shift in the IT industry to almost everything being about “cloud” can be quite confusing for some business decision makers. Because of this it is quite common for the research and decision making to be delegated out to the IT manager. In larger organisations the IT manager is usual someone who looks at the strategic implications of technology and how it can be implemented in the business. However at the small business level the IT manager is usually someone who falls into one of three categories: An employee with a primary role that is technology-savvy and now bears the responsibility of IT management for the business An external IT company or consultant A technical person employed to administer the business IT systems (aka systems administrator) The challenge with all of the above scenarios is that unless the person is also the owner of the company (or at least senior management) – they are not necessarily aligned with the strategic goals of the business. In my day job as owner of Paradyne I speak with small businesses every day about their IT challenges and discuss how cloud solutions can help. Unfortunately sometimes these discussions are either hijacked or simply delegated to the IT person for the organisation which quite often becomes a dead end. This can happen for numerous reasons however the issue behind them all is that the