AT&T Will Dominate Cloud Computing—Without the Help of Ron Popeil

Ron Popeil is a marketing genius! The Veg-O-Matic, the Popeil Pocket Fisherman—and who can forget Mr. Microphone? I’ve heard more than one IT sales engineer borrow a catchphrase from this late-night pitchman: “Just set it and forget it.”

So what does telcom behemoth AT&T and Mr. Popeil have in common? AT&T isn’t known for innovation. And in terms of voice and data communications, it doesn’t get more old school than American Telephone and Telegraph. The bond between AT&T and this famous late-night pitchman has everything to do with Popeil’s classic slogan “How much would you pay?” While AT&T may lack Ron’s charisma, it knows how to deliver the right price point with a product that fills customer needs.

Here’s why in my  2011 predictions, I think AT&T will soon become the dominant cloud-service provider—and why that will prove to be a good thing for WorkloadIQ. Telcos have built-in advantages when it comes to cloud infrastructure. (Sorry Google) Telcos have vast data center resources, connectivity infrastructure, billing systems and marketing expertise.

AT&T seems to tell its competitors, “Anything you can do, we can do better…but you go first—we insist.” Once the other telcos have done the heavy lifting and dialed in their cloud-based business models, AT&T will bring its massive infrastructure to bear and take over as the largest cloud provider.

Cloud providers have already started competing for enterprise business based on cost. As cloud service becomes more commoditized, telecoms will ultimately win the price war. Attractive price points coupled with a major dominant player serve as the catalyst for mass adoption (a credibility advantage and price advantage are pretty hard to compete with).

As you may have guessed, I believe this rapid market maturation will impact intelligent workload management. As more and more workloads are pushed beyond the firewall, intelligence in workloads will become increasingly important. Companies looking to capitalize on cloud-based price advantages will need better, more efficient ways to build, secure, manage and measure workloads. In other words, they will need Novell WorkloadIQ solutions.

If you’ve been building private clouds and using WorkloadIQ solutions such as Novell Cloud Manager, you’ll be well positioned to take full advantage of cloud computing and intelligent workload management. IWM may not be the “biggest fishing invention since the hook,” and it might not “slice a tomato so thin it only has one side,” but rest assured, “it really, really works.”

–Richard.