Planes, Trains And....Cloud Services. It's All About the Destination!

Why do you choose to get on one train over another? Why do you board this plane and not that one?

It's simple you shout! "Because this one is going where I want to go."

And yet, when it comes to buying technology for our businesses we ask the question "Where are you today?" and very rarely "Where are you going to be tomorrow?"

If you are in the process of investigating cloud solutions for your business, then absolutely you should be looking at whether your short-list of providers can meet your critical requirements today. But perhaps of more importance is where your providers are going to be in 1 year, or five years time.

What is their vision? How do they see the market evolving? Are they leading the market or following what others are doing?

Can they talk to you about the new world that they see, and is that a world that you agree with and aspire to be in?

If your vision is aligned with that of your supplier then (as long as they have the ability to execute) you should be in good stead.

If your vision conflicts with that of your supplier (or worse, they aren't able to accurately convey what that vision is to you) then the warning signals should be flashing.

So next time you're engaging with sales people at potential cloud providers, tell them that you appreciate them relaying what their product does today, but what you really need to know is the details of the destination.

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How important is a provider's vision in your decision making process? We'd love to know your thoughts in the comments section below.