"Google gives users the feeling that information is local [to them]," explained Sal Fernando, chief architect, EMC South Asia.
The same user experience can be had if companies build their own cloud environment within their premises, Fernanded said. "People are holding back on the cloud because they don't know that they can build their own clouds. They can actually have the best of both worlds," he added.
EMC, however, with its renewed push for the private cloud, is taking a new approach towards pushing for its adoption. "We have told customers what, and how they can implement the cloud, without really telling them why," Fernando clarified. "If we can't make a difference to the users, then what's the point?"
Fernando said Google was so successful because it made search, among other online applications, easily accessible to normal users. "Users spend most of the time figuring out the technology that can help them with their work," he stressed. "There's actually a huge economical benefit for allowing users to use devices that they're comfortable with."
If firms can tidy up their infrastructures to service a host of access devices with the capacity for remote access, then they can deliver a similar Google experience to their users, Fernando related.
The problem with Google, according to Fernando, is that it's all data. "Data is only useful if turned into information," he emphasized. Delivering pertinent information to users anywhere, anytime, through any means they prefer, he added, is the ideal situation for any company jumping into the cloud.
Local companies, however, seem to take the good news lightly, albeit a little too much. EMC Philippines country manager Ronnie Latinazo noted that a lot of companies have started virtualizing their servers--considered a first-step approach to the cloud--but only some have gone beyond that point to reach the benefits of a private cloud.
"Three years ago, companies started virtualization of their servers, although it was merely a technical decision, a technique to cut down on costs," he explained.
The fact that the ROI is almost instant with virtualization technology aided to its rapid adoption, Latinazo noted.
He also pointed out that at almost every instance, server virtualization is accompanied by storage virtualization. "It's an area we're intently looking at," he added.