Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat or habitats. Today, organizations and individuals alike are scrambling to learn how to thrive in this new paradigm we call “The Cloud.” It is an ambiguous entity much like “the force” which Obi-Wan explained, surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the world together.
The cloud is the great disruptor and the great equalizer. It is a disruptor in the fact that it is accelerating the digital transformation of entire industries and organizations of all sizes, at a pace that is seemingly occurring overnight, forcing traditional enterprises to rethink how they do business. It is also the great equalizer that empowers the individual. Thanks to the cloud, the sky’s the limit for those who recognize its sovereignty and liberating freedom.
Across the globe, businesses are scrambling to migrate their resources and services from the rigid datacenter, saddled with intransigent hardware and legacy technology to the fluid cloud. No longer does infrastructure and size guarantee success. The spoils of victory today are awarded to those that can demonstrate the greatest degree of flexibility and adaptability in order to react quickly to both disruption and opportunity. A business no longer needs a datacenter, just a laptop where an orchestrator can deploy and decommission servers and services at will. Today’s business owner can just as easily be a wandering migrant as the suit that boasts the corner office and resides there ten hours a day. For cloud entrepreneurs, the office is simply where they are at the time.
To the cat that sits perched on the sill of the bay window gazing outward through the windowpane, the visible horizon is the only world it can comprehend. In similar fashion, my vision of opportunity at one time was restrained by my own limitations governed by geographical restraints. Ten years ago I wrote a syndicated biweekly newspaper column that was carried by three newspapers in my local geographical area. Today I am a technical writer with clients in Ireland, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada and both coasts of the U.S. The cloud has not only augmented my opportunities, but my understanding of the world and the digital transformation that is transpiring throughout the globe.
Opportunity has not only materialized for me in monetary compensation, but in the form of self-actualization as well. Last year I had the opportunity to meet one of my clients in Galway, Ireland, which allowed me to spend one glorious afternoon, witnessing the beauty of the Cliffs of Moore. As I traversed the hiking trails crisscross along the pastures that border the rocky precipices that keep the waters of the Atlantic at bay, I felt truly blessed to be alive in such an extraordinary time.
The cloud augments the ability to compete on a global scale with the giants of the world. My dear friend, Kendall, knows the power of the cloud, even if he can’t deliberate the concept of this emboldening paradigm. In need of an additional income source, he put his house on Airbnb, hoping to attract an occasional traveler that might be journeying through his area. Since then, he has attracted guests from as far away as Germany and Denmark. In other words, Kendall was able to attract guests that ten years ago would have been exclusively served by corporate giants such as Marriot or Hilton. His endeavor has proved so successful; he is preparing an additional room in his house to serve multiple guest parties.
Just as Brexit was about a country breaking free of an obstinate plutocracy, the cloud is allowing individuals to break free from the shackles of the cubicle and challenge their former corporate masters. So fearful of the disrupting forces of cloud based competition, that businesses are now turning to lobbyists to attempt to stifle these new kids on the block such as Uber and Airbnb. But what is Uber and Airbnb? They are not companies. They are the culmination of millions of entrepreneurs, pursuing individualistic opportunity, yet acting in tandem collectiveness.
In summary – The Cloud is freedom, and we are the cloud.
