没有预见到云计算深远意义的企业很可能在未来的竞争中处于劣势，甚至遭受致命打击。

　　许多企业对云计算将给他们带来的巨大改变毫无概念，这一点常常令我感到惊讶。

　　其实在互联网发展的初期，我们就看到过类似的现象。有些企业抓住了契机，进而逐步发展壮大。而有些企业没有把握住机会，不得不在很长时间里扮演追赶者的角色，有的甚至关门倒闭。事实上，商业经营的一项重要技巧就是发现并理解那些会改变企业发展方向的新技术，云计算就是一个例子。

　　把握不住云计算的企业会错过它所带来的哪些便利呢?我想到了以下几点。

　　降低IT管理费用，创造价格优势。你的对手按成本价出售产品，却依然能盈利，奥妙何在?通过使用基于云计算的服务，他们把成本降低了一半，而之前他们每年要在IT领域投资5000万美元。或者他们抛弃了原先投资建设新数据中心的计划，而是通过使用云计算，节约成本、降低售价，从而扩大销量，获取更高的利润。

　　更好地使用商业数据。云计算使大数据的处理成为变得简单，而传统方法通常要付出很高的成本。有了云云计算，许多企业广泛地获取信息，决定企业的发展方向并发现各种机会，而之前他们往往苦于信息的匮乏。通过基于云技术的大型数据系统，他们能够更加理智地收集各种资源，并利用他们创造收益。如果你的竞争对手们现在正在这样做，你可要当心了。

　　利用IT技术新的灵活性扩大企业规模。许多企业希望通过收购与合并来扩大企业规模，但由于转变现有的IT设施所需的时间太长而不得不放弃。而云计算有着更好的灵活性，可以快速构建基础设施、应用程序以及商业数据。利用这一点，企业可以更快的扩大规模，而且成本会更低，风险也会更小。

　　使用云计算会帮助你获得更大的竞争优势。你必须清醒地认识到这一点，否则如果让竞争对手占了先机，你一定会吃大亏。

　　Businesses that don't anticipate these shifts will find themselves at a disadvantage, perhaps fatally so.

　　I'm often taken aback by businesses that are unaware of the influence of cloud computing when it's about to hit them upside the head.

　　We saw this before, back in the early days of the Web. Some businesses got it and thrived. Others did not, and they had to play catch-up or shut their doors. Indeed, a great business skill is to understand when technology will require you to move in different directions, and cloud computing is another instance of that shift.

　　What are they missing? I have a few items for the list.

　　Reduction in IT overhead creates a price advantage. How can your competition sell its product at the price it does and still make money? Well, instead of putting $50 million a year into IT, the company has cut its costs in half through the use of cloud-based services. Or perhaps it avoided an investment in that new data center. Instead, thanks to the use of the cloud, your competitor passed that savings on as lower prices, which increased sales and led to higher profits.

　　Better use of business data. The cloud provides the ability to deal with massive amounts of data, a traditionally cost-prohibitive endeavor. Many businesses are taking advantage of the access to information to better determine trends and opportunities they were once blind to. They get better and make smarter allocation of resources by using those newfangled, cloud-based big data systems -- and the ability they provide to turn this new access to business intelligence into profit. If that's your competition, watch out.

　　Expansion through new IT agility. Businesses looking to expand through acquisition are often blocked by the years it can take to convert existing IT systems. The cloud provides much better agility, including the ability to quickly bring on board infrastructure, applications, and business data. By leveraging this newfound agility, many businesses will find that they can expand much faster -- at less cost and with less risk.

　　The use of cloud computing becomes a competitive advantage. You need to make sure you see this technology coming, or it could quickly run you over if your competition gets it first.