CRM APPLICATION RESEARCH, IDC

"The 'cloud' and its related applications represent a fundamental shift in IT. On-demand CRM products are a part of this shift but must remain focused on the business problem and processes to remain relevant."

— Mary Wardley, research vice president, CRM applications research, IDC

Everybody is talking about Cloud Computing, and there's not a day that goes by without someone asking me what the difference is between Cloud and Cloud 2. From my prospective, Cloud 2 is the next iteration on the current state of cloud computing characterized by the addition of social networking and real-time access to information in cloud applications.

There’s a huge shift going on, we're moving to a world of enterprise applications that work and look more like Facebook - your location is known, and targeted information is pushed to you. Cloud 2 is taking the key benefits of Cloud (virtualized resources, flexibility, and pay as you go) and making them available in real-time, on the go, through mobile devices and social networking for business.

— Maruthi Dronamraju