Microsoft doesn’t like Windows anymore

<blockquote><em><a href="#429168">In reply to ghostrider:</a></em></blockquote><p>"T<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">here aren't many companies who will save money moving the cloud either – and once your in, getting out will be hard. It's all about continuous revenue for the cloud providers if you haven't gathered – subscriptions, subscriptions, subscriptions. Cloud providers like it, shareholders like it."</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The straight arithmetic pans out that the cost of using like for like functionality and performance of existing business COMMS, HW, OS, ERP, CRM, other LOB SW, Storage, etc., that are traditionally purchased from CAPEX and treated as capitalised assets amortised over 5 years but sweated for over 7-10 years after being fully depreciated is….but now treated as OPEX, which initially </span></p><p><br></p><p>3-5 years depending on breadth and level of cloud services used.</p><p>Cloud subscriptions then become greater in total year on year aggregated expenditure.</p><p><br></p><p>But in house comes with it's own particular baggage.</p><p><br></p><p>5 years means only 20% of the capital costs can expensed each year and offset against corporation tax.</p><p>Operating costs of maintenance, labour, buildings, energy, support services etc., can be expensed in the year.</p><p>Then there are the incidental operating "sunk" costs that are unrecoverable:</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Recruitment</p><p class="ql-indent-1">HR</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Procurement</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Reduced Working Capital (capital asset upfront purchases, either from cash reserves or interest bearing loans – either way reduces investment capacity to grow the business, generate earnings from cash reserves and increases gearing and incurs costs against borrowings. </p><p class="ql-indent-1">Asset Management and Tracking</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Management time on HW/SW/Services CAPEX spent Budgeting, Tracking and Reporting</p><p class="ql-indent-1">Increased complexity in accounting and statutory reporting including higher labour operating costs to run/manage.</p><p>And the killer – at some point you have to upgrade and you do it all again, normally bigger (better?) and increased CAPEX than previous.</p><p><br></p><p>Cloud subscriptions offer the glossy (perceived and sold as) utopia of:</p><p><br></p><p>Axe swathes of CAPEX budgets of inhouse provision and replace with OPEX, all OPEX costs fully expensed and offset against corporation tax in the tax year and simplification of accounting and statutory reporting.</p><p>Reduce I<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">T personnel </span>either inhouse or 3rd party and associated employee costs by reduction of personnel recruitment/management, Server HW/SW costs install/run/maintain.</p><p>Reduced office/building costs</p><p>Reduced Energy costs</p><p>Benefit from Tin and SW under continuous upgrades from cloud provider – formerly incremental CAPEX now covered in monthly subscription fee but cloud provider's economy of scale delivers the necessary service provision but at comparative operating costs not achievable through inhouse provision</p><p>Increased working capital</p><p>Reduced corporate taxation</p><p>Recover time previously lost in senior management to design, budget, procure, operate in house capacity and service provision that allow the company to run.</p><p>Reduce costs of maintaining inhouse up to date specialised knowledge, training and certification required to operate previous core infrastructure</p><p>Redeploy management and improve productivity of management with greater focus on the company business (customers, products, processes, efficiency, productivity and capacity growth) and reduce time spent on all aspects the core nuts and bolts of Corporate IT necessary to facilitate the business to ply its trade.</p><p><br></p><p>Basically, it's about making the CFO and COO jobs simpler, more fun, less stress.</p><p><br></p><p>Whether it DOES actually deliver the corporate benefits that it sells, I shall leave that to others to comment on.</p><p><br></p><p>One simple thought….employee well-being, happiness and job satisfaction often arises through knowing they are supported and have direct person dialogue/interaction and therefore someone for them to offload to about their daily gripes and issues. Often as an Agony Aunt rather them being able to drive wholesale change. </p><p><br></p><p>The wellness factor of your workforce is the single biggest driver of employee productivity, efficiency and process optimisation and innovation.</p><p>If they just turn up to work, but don't believe they are part of a greater whole, they'll just do the time until their day of work is done.</p><p><br></p><p>People talk to people.</p>