You’ve no doubt heard about cloud computing, but what you probably don’t know about this oft-used buzzword is just how much it changes the game in favor of startups.
Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership, noted that he spent $3 million on equipment when he founded Priceline.com in 1997. That same level of processing power and technology could now be had for about $1,000 from a cloud services provider like Dell, Amazon or Intuit, he says.
For a new company, that’s a huge savings in startup costs – money that can be better spent on product development and sales and marketing to catch the big guys. It also means big savings in information technology (IT) staffers needed to manage that infrastructure. In short, it removes one of the biggest obstacles for startups, allowing them to easily get the technology infrastructure and expertise they need at the lowest possible cost.
“The game has absolutely changed in our ability to leverage technology and the ability to access terabytes at almost zero cost by lowering the cost of entry,” says Case.
Technology and communications have also allowed startups to piece together supply chains to rival large companies and to find customers as easily as larger organizations.
Adapted from Cloud Computing, Mobile Technologies Key to Small Business Success at eWeek.