It would be interesting to study the value proposition offered by cloud computing from a stakeholder perspective. This would require us to look at cloud computing from the perspective of a customer, investor, employee, supplier and society.
From a customer perspective, cloud computing enables a company to provide its services based on how much they get used. This is great for consumers who are afraid to get locked-in. Customer can use (and get billed) for just what they use. Investors like cloud computing because they don't get into a deep hole by their fixed costs commitments to IT. This avoids the theory of escalating commitments -- just because they have made investments, they do not have to continue on the same path. If they feel that the ROI is bad, they can abandon the project. Employees prefer cloud based applications because they allow them to use the latest and greatest in technological developments. In addition, they are independent of the hardware devices. In fact, they can access their content and data from any device. Suppliers prefer to work with companies that provide transparency to their supply chain data. This allows them to collaboratively plan their resource management. Finally, society may benefit from green operations supported by cloud vendors.
My colleague
Erik Noyes and I just wrote a case study on
Appirio that highlighted the value of cloud services to Appirio. We will be undertaking this new study and interviewing entrepreneurs and investors to learn about the value proposition offered by cloud computing.