Cloud or On-Site Computing?

Cloud or On-Site: What Works Best for Executive Search Software? David Grundy, CEO, discusses an important question faced by many Executive Search firms today.

Cloud or On-Site: What Works Best for Executive Search Software?

One question posed by many executive search and recruitment firms today is, “What does Cloud computing mean for a business like ours?”

With legacy systems requiring complex and expensive to run servers, the Cloud vendor’s proposition to take everything away and leave you nothing but a browser window on your world can sound tempting, but also daunting.

Can there not be some balance that brings the benefits of putting the difficult to manage server capabilities in the Cloud, but lets you continue to work with and leverage your proven and familiar desktop and mobile devices?

Most people in our business see Outlook as a tool of the trade. Most businesses run Exchange servers in the Cloud, but nearly all of these companies continue to use the local Outlook desktop application because they get a fast and rich desktop experience, which leverages the power of the device and continues to work when offline. Few would trade this flexibility for a browser link to a pure webbased version of Outlook, despite its low cost and ready availability.

On another front, the iPhone and iPad are increasingly showing up as the mobile tool of choice, often used in front of clients and candidates. Again, this combination of Cloud + Client Apps is what users are voting for with their feet, electing to download and install a local application on their device, over using a link in a browser, in order to get that superfast and rich user experience.

So…if Outlook and the iPad deploy a pragmatic mix of Cloud + Apps that leverage the power and storage of smart devices, what about the core Executive Search Software, which is increasingly at the centre of search and recruitment firms?

At Invenias, we believe it’s essential to make decisions about Cloud and Client architecture based on the answers to fundamental questions about your business needs:

1. Do you want to do away with the purchase and maintenance of expensive and complex servers, and the risks of downtime they bring when problems occur?

2. Do you need fast, responsive and powerful user experiences that handle data-rich applications, and can be delivered in familiar and favourite environments such as inside Outlook, or on your iPad?

3. Do you want the choice to keep data cached on a local device (just like with Outlook) so you can continue to work when you’re not connected to the internet?

4. Do you need to support users in remote locations and across the world?

Invenias Executive Search Software works like Outlook and Exchange, or like your iPhone and your favourite Apps and software. You download the Invenias App and install it inside Outlook and on your iPad/iPhone.

Invenias takes care of all the complex and expensive server activity in the Invenias Private Cloud, and connects your devices via its proprietary and unique Cloud + App sync platform. The result – you get incredibly simple, but powerful software, that’s easy to use and work with, where you need it to be, with all the risk and complexity taken care of by Invenias.

Interestingly, Gartner have just published their Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014, where they state, “Cloud/client computing models are shifting. In the Cloud/client architecture, the client is a rich application running on an Internet-connected device, and the server is a set of application services hosted in an increasingly elastically scalable Cloud computing platform.”

Read more at http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2603623 In summary, Cloud is very relevant for an executive search firm, but pragmatism, reality, and an anchor in the analysis of your real business needs may lead you to a blend of Client and Cloud capabilities that really can give you the best of both worlds.