The consumer cloud is alive and kicking thanks to the success of Dropbox, Google Drive and many other amazing products. The triumph of the consumer cloud is also the triumph of a few other big ideas which will have a huge impact in 2014.
The Successful Freemium Business Model
A classic example of the “freemium” business model can be found in the App and Play Stores. Many apps have two versions – free and pay. Users download the free version and are tempted to buy the pay version. Freemium apps offer an easy path from free to pay – if you have a great product.
The freemium business model is finding another huge success in the consumer cloud. Dropbox offers 5 GB for free and 100 GB for $9.99 a month. Google users get 15 GB for free and 100 GB for $1.99 a month. For $9.99 a month, you can have 1 TB (!!) of drive space on Google.
You are given an excellent product from day one for free and are tempted to spend $2-$10 a month on a much bigger and better product. Both services are always improving their free and pay products. Freemium in the cloud is a win-win situation for everyone.
When high tech business teams decide which business model to emulate, they will no doubt be looking at freemium model that had its biggest success in the consumer cloud.
App Data is Moving to the Cloud
We’re only in the beginning stages, but the trend is clear – app data is moving to the cloud. The first category of apps to make the move were the notes apps such as Evernote. They had an obvious need – users had to have access to content from multiple devices.
Moving app data to the cloud has another advantage – apps will take up less space on our devices with the data in the cloud. The model for the future is to store the user interface on the device and the app data as well as minor updates in the cloud.
The Normalization of BYOD
Two years ago, BYOD was a big deal; not everyone had a (smart) mobile device. Today, the question is “how many mobile devices do you own.” We’re all developing our own mobile style; it’s a work in progress. The move to the consumer cloud is quietly pushing BYOD. As the consumer cloud populates, it makes more sense for people to use their device 24/7 – including at work. If consumers weren’t moving to the cloud, would enterprise even be entertaining the thought?
Enterprise Cloud – The Final Frontier
At Nubo, we believe 2014 is the year that enterprise will begin its long trek to the cloud. This will take a few years; it is a marathon and not a sprint. Enterprise is learning from the consumer cloud experience. While we understand the initial hesitation, there’s no avoiding the inevitable. Nubo is one of many enterprise solutions – of all sorts, not just BYOD – which are preparing the cloud for enterprise.