Churn risks rise when customers don’t reap full benefits of the cloud

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Lynda Stadtmueller.

When customers only dabble in cloud services, they fail to realize the full benefits of the cloud. This isn’t just a philosophical problem for providers; unmet expectations lead to customer dissatisfaction and a tarnished brand. In part one of this two-part tip, "If companies using cloud computing only dabble, providers may suffer," expert Lynda Stadtmueller outlined the challenges providers face from "cloud dabblers." In part two, she discusses how providers can prevent and mitigate these challenges.

The practice of "cloud dabbling" can be problematic for enterprises, since their first impression of cloud services is often dampened by unrealistic expectations for such noncommittal usage. In turn, the blowback that follows these disappointments and dashed hopes spells trouble for cloud providers as well…

Dabbling ultimately undermines the value of the cloud, potentially hindering further adoption. By adopting a hodgepodge of cloud services without a plan, enterprises will likely see increased IT costs and administrative burden — at least in the short term, as they will pay cloud providers’ fees while still maintaining a full complement of IT staff to handle on-premises data center infrastructure. Since cost savings represent the leading driver for cloud adoption, IT decision-makers whose expectations are not met will likely slow down or scale back expansion plans…

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