Helping large companies transition to cloud computing has generated tremendous growth for Appirio. To learn more, Consulting's One-on-One sat down with the firm's Head of Delivery, Mike Epner.
Consulting: How fast is Appiro growing?
Epner: We grew by about 325 percent in 2008 and by about 125 percent in 2009. We're now at about 200 professionals. Ongoing demand for the cloud has enabled us to keep the business growing at these phenomenal rates.
Consulting: Is the growth sustainable?
Epner: We certainly don't see any signs of a significant slowdown. We're still in the early adopter stage for cloud computing. Some analysts predict that by 2012, 20 percent of companies will not have any on-premises IT servers. So, I don't think we're anywhere near a cap in demand.
Consulting: Why do you think companies are so drawn to cloud computing?
Epner: Part of what's driving demand is that transitioning to the cloud can bring cost reduction. But most of the executives we work with say that what's even more important about the prospect of cloud computing is the ability to bring additional functionality to their staff across the globe. We're also getting traction from CEOs that simply want to get out of the hassle of running an IT organization inside their company. And, clients are also attracted by the relatively short ROI. IT varies by the It function that's being moved to the cloud, but ROI can be achieved in as little as three months.
Consulting: What are the biggest concerns clients have when considering moving their IT functions to a cloud-based system?
Epner: Clients are asking a number of questions. They want to know 'will my data be safe? Will my IT systems meet regulatory requirements?' These are important questions to ask. But issues that can be resolved using the cloud.
Consulting: Who are your biggest competitors?
Epner: Our competition varies based on the kind of system we're helping migrate to the cloud. We have an enterprise focus, which differentiates us from the smaller players. And because we focus exclusively on cloud issues—from strategy through implementation—we have a more developed set of offerings than the large systems integration firms.
Consulting: Where in the market do you see additional growth opportunities?
Epner: We are already starting discussions to completely manage our largest customer's IT. Our plan is to take a company's entire IT portfolio—all of the IT that supports sales management, HR management, finance management, etc. There are applications in the cloud right now to do all of those services. We think we can transition entire services organization to the point where they no longer have any servers.
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