Cloud computing is really about sticking to core competence

It has been five years since the departure of management guru CK Prahalad of University of Michigan…the man who strongly influenced me to expand my horizons and learn the world of corporate strategy and internal business. CK is internationally recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management gurus. He was twice ranked the world’s most influential business thinker in 2007 and 2009, by the Thinkers50 list of the top management thought leaders in the world.

CK Prahalad coined the phrase Core Competence in an epic article, The Core Competence of the Corporation, published in May–June 1990 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Core Competency is defined as a harmonized combination of multiple resources and skills that distinguish a firm in the marketplace.

Core competencies fulfill three criteria:

• Provides potential access to a wide variety of markets.
  


• Makes a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end product.
  


• Makes it difficult for competitors to imitate.
  

Cloud computing is really about sticking to core competenceNilesh

Cloud computing essentially enables businesses to stick to their core competence. If you know how to maintain large scale IT infrastructure better than anybody else, you should be in the business of providing cloud services. If that is not your core competence, you should be focusing on what your core competence is.

Should you be using cloud computing or should you be in the business of providing cloud services? What is your core competence?

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Cloud computing is really about sticking to core competence