1. Engage in Cloud Marketing.

This week cloud marketing companies took over show floor space from last year’s rack vendors. Cloud industry leader  Salesforce.com  wasn’t even at the forum last year.  But this year they aimed for center stage.  Brilliant marketers. Salesforce.com helps companies use cloud, mobile and social technologies to market and sell to their customers from a future point-of-view.  They may be expensive but their future-orientation, alignment with winners and incredible marketing prowess are contagious.

Other cloud marketing companies included large IT vendors, such as IBM, Oracle and HP,  who acquired smaller marketing companies to fast-track their cloud marketing offering.  (Where was Adobe?)  Smaller cloud marketing apps, services and consulting providers like Marketo , ServiceSource (Scout) a.o. were at the conference as well.

They offer parts or all aspects of cloud marketing: multi-channel marketing automation, content management tools, social media tools and/or analytics platforms. Salesforce.com offers a wide range of services in cloud sales and cloud marketing. Others specialize. E.g. ServiceScout leverages recurring billings to help companies create customers for life. Marketo’s cloud-based marketing automation applications help businesses create and track online advertising campaigns.

Forum speakers offered specific examples of cloud marketing implementation. They clarified that the trends of mobile cloud adoption, the proliferation of apps, big data & the Internet of Things are developments that will propel cloud marketing. The ‘future’ of Cloud Marketing has arrived. It is sophisticated, challenging and exciting.

2.  Jump on the Mobile Cloud & Apps – Bandwagon.

This year, mobile computing was discussed with the sophistication of those who are working in the field.

Cloud World Forum extended with Enterprise Apps World offering App developers their own sphere on the show. Collectively they looked at implications of going mobile in the workplace and how enterprise apps can help.

There were many interesting apps on the show floor, such as SofTools – an advanced web platform that enables non-technical users to design and deploy business applications in a matter of hours – with no software coding – in a hosted cloud environment.  Everyone’s app niche is special.  

Salesforce had two full days of presentations aimed at development primarily at the their Force.com platform with the Salesforce1 mobile app.

3. Prepare for Big Data and the Internet of Things.

Confirmed by awe-inspiring Big Data lectures and case studies, I continue to envision that the Internet of Things is the most important upcoming tidal wave in the world of business, coming in just a short few years to a town near you. It will be nothing less crushing, and nothing less difficult to manage than a tsunami. You could say that the upcoming wave of the Internet of Things is the tsunami of apps, big data, and mobile computing advancement combined.

The wave has already begun rolling. Two years ago at Dreamforce in San Francisco, we saw cloud-social-mobile-based Coca-cola vending machine interaction.  At Dreamforce 2013, Marc Benioff coined the term the “Internet of Customers”. Other companies have followed experimenting and learning.

At Cloud World Forum London 2014, the TVH  Group explained how their connected lift-trucks with the use of big data  and the Internet of Things realize a competitive edge. They benefit from completely new sets of truck utilization insights and opportunities to gain business efficiency. The company’s aspiration is for completely self-healing equipment whereby their trucks auto-order spare parts and schedule preventative maintenance, all by themselves.

4. Re-invent Yourself Fast.

What the three prior developments mean is that companies must learn to transform fast and frequently. 

• Have the vision to see what’s coming, and be able to react to that today – Coca Cola CIO Onyeka Nchege at Cloud World Forum
• Propel your company into the future before your customers, so that you are ready to greet them when they arrive– Salesforce World Tour London
• Learn to change the tire with the car moving – Jimson Lee, CRMHelpdeskSoftware.com.

These pointers describe their reality, explained LonelyPlanet at the conference. Their business transformed from trekking through India, to writing a book, to managing an arsenal of bestseller travel books in multi-languages, to beating new competition of internet technologists and preempting the challenge of travelers bringing mobile devices instead of favorite travel books along.

LonelyPlanet changed business model every few years in alignment with changes in technology, market trends and shifts in travel information consumption.

Most refreshingly, LonelyPlanet shared their story as an exciting adventure instead of an ordeal. Let that conclude my summary of takeaways from Cloud World Forum 2014, and  may your challenging journey of cloud adoption too be an exciting adventure.