LiveOps CEO: 'Consumerize' The Cloud

“We need to change the paradigm and talk about what’s possible and do that against a consumer model, not an enterprise model,” he said at the San Francisco conference, hosted by OpSource and the Software & Information Industry Association from May 10-12.

Companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook and others have leveraged the cloud to excite and entice consumers, and the same needs to be done at the enterprise level, he said. What's more, he said, businesses have to adapt to the new model or be left behind.

“The bar has been raised a lot for an enterprise,” said Webb.

Citing examples such as Jefferson University Hospital, which is leveraging Facebook for patient interaction; Kaiser Permanente, which added a level of transparency through online availability to let patients select and swap doctors while also rating them in a community environment; and the K-12 sector, which is offering home and Web-based schooling in the cloud while providing supplies, a computer and Internet access to change how and where students attend school, Webb painted the picture of a changing ecosystem.

“Education is the great divider,” Webb said of K-12. “Now, you can go to the best schools no matter where you live as long as there’s an Internet connection.”

Webb compared the cloud evolution to the growth of Apple Computer, from its humble roots as a computer maker in the late 1970s to its changing of how the world consumes music with the 2001 launch of the iPod, which offered a new device and a new cloud service, to the iPad in 2010, which is poised to further revolutionize how media and the cloud are consumed.

All told, Webb said, the cloud is enabling companies to adopt new business models that allow workers to succeed without the limitations of time, location and device.

“Why the hell do we get up at the same time every morning and jump on the freeway together?” he asked, noting that the cloud is changing the way the world works and the days of trudging into an office and the hourlong commute will soon be things of the past.

To get the most out of the shift, Webb urged "All About The Cloud" conference attendees to innovate and disrupt the market, following the examples he cited.

“Get to the cloud,” he said. “It’s happening. It’s where the world’s going.”