Outsource Issue 23 - (Page 114)

THE BACK END THE LAST WORD towards a pack of ravenous lions. In conversation I allow this perception to continue (I like watching them squirm when I bare my fangs later of course) because when salesfolk feel superior they always allow their egos to run away with them and it’s then that you get the most information out of them. On my recent travels many things have struck me but none more so than the haste with which every Tom, Dick and Harriet is jumping onto the cloud computing bandwagon. Almost everyone I’ve spoken with has fallen over themselves to tell me all about their great (make that “quite possibly acceptable”) new cloud “offering”. One gentleman was so enthusiastic about what his company had to offer in the cloud that he forgot to ask me anything about my own requirements as a buyer. Needless to say I excused myself very quickly and have decided never to engage with his organisation other than through software I already use very frequently as a consumer (is that giving the game away?). Another vendor at a major European event was much more solicitous. He listened to everything I had to say as I let off steam about how our “challenge” was obstructing some very important work at a critical time. Then when finally I got round to asking him if he could help me with my troubles he responded with another question: “How much do you know about what we’re doing in the cloud?” I know I’m not the only one experiencing all this. I’ve spoken with many of my peers and a lot of people seem to agree with me: the provider community is getting high on a drug and that drug is cloud. Everything that’s not cloud is boring and obsolete and a waste of everybody’s time. (Of course some of the pricing seems to come out of the clouds as well but that’s another story.) But not everybody’s convinced by the cloud – and more importantly, if you’re like me, where and how the solution is delivered is less important that what the solution actually does. Just because the vendor is incontinently excited by his – or her – cloud offering, doesn’t mean I am. The cloud is the means to an end, nothing more. And in our case, it is probably at present an entirely inappropriate means considering the data protection issues and a lot of other considerations. So vendors, get over the cloud for a moment and pay attention to what excites me, not you. Then maybe we’ll both get to Cloud Nine. Cloudsick I am a buyer (make that “potential buyer”) of services for a public sector organisation which will remain anonymous because I have to feed my children until they are old enough to feed me. Recently I have been in the market for a solution to a certain challenge (make that “increasingly serious problem”) within our organisation. I will go further and say that it is a human resources issue. All this is not wholly relevant but I was always taught to set the scene before proceeding with a story. Over the past couple of months I have been to several trade shows at home and abroad and have had an astounding number of conversations with potential providers. I imagine they see me as a well-fed cow (I’m sure I’ve heard that coming out of my husband’s mouth at Christmastime) plodding OPINION ‘Lady M.’ Would you like to contribute an interesting, provocative – and, if you wish, anonymous – piece to The Last Word? Or would you like to respond to this particular column? Why not drop a line to the editor at jamie.liddell@ outsourcemagazine. co.uk to discuss your thoughts? Consendre mod eugait alit luptati sisisisit augait num iusti facidunt ipsumsan el eraestrud exerat ad onulla cor ing eumsandre ex elit “Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint.” - Don Marquis atetue tet ulla feu feum niamconEm ea commodiam ad tem dolortio Utat lum quisim et, quissi.Volobore m iurero dolobore. 114 ●●● ● www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Issue 23

Outsource Issue 23
Contents
News & Comment
IT Security
Ian Collard
More Than Just A Headcount
Call Centre Technology
Social Issues
Understanding Value
Cutting Through The Noise
All In The Genes?
It’s Time For Contact Centres To Get Socially Responsible
Right From The Start
All In The Game
Relationship Management Centres
NOA Roundup
Document Management
Digital Vision
Review Ructions
Provider Perspective
A New Reckoning?
Head-to-Head
The Music of Outsourcing
Accelerating Innovation
Labour Arbitrage
Top Ten Tips
The Legal View
HfS: New outsource Partner
Online Round-Up
Sourcebites
Inside Source
The Last Word

Outsource Issue 23