Selling Through Someone Else: How to Use Agile Sales Networks and Partners to Sell More

Chapter 17

New Rules for Tools and IT Infrastructure

The Cloud and Agile Tools, Processes, and Systems

Saideep Raj and Beth Boettcher

 

Chapter Summary

• The “cloud dilemma” is real: It is a hot topic with fantastic promise, but many are not clear on how to get started.
• Promise stems from the convergence of the cloud, mobility, and business analytics—attacking bigger problems, at faster speeds, than the previous generation of solutions.
• Ecosystem-wide collaboration will open doors to vastly different business solutions, and emerging technologies will power that innovation.
• Four different approaches have emerged; picking the path wisely has never been more important to delivering results.
• IT basics still apply to implementations, but overconfidence in today's capabilities without looking for new skills in the IT team spells danger in cloud solutions.

As we discussed in the opening chapters of this book, the market is demanding that businesses operate at an unprecedented pace—rapidly responding to new demands, quickly driving new products through the R&D pipeline, sharing information to interact in real time with customers and partners, and satisfying customers who want their specific need met “now.” These market demands are placing significant pressure on businesses to be more nimble and efficient in how they go to market. In this environment, high-performing sales organizations must make more collaborative, rapid, rigorous, and outcome-based decisions and they need the technology ...