Ten ‘experts’ in cloud computing have just released a comprehensive white paper on the subject called ‘Comment Réuissir dans le Cloud’ (in English ‘How to Succeed in the Cloud’).  The effort was led by webmarketing agency PowerOn in partnership with Salesforce and drew on contributions from experts on the subject from various backgrounds.  As a follow-up discussion to the paper, PowerOn will also host a webconference on the subject in early July.  The white paper (in french) can be downloaded for free here.

A few interesting highlights from the white paper include:

– The assertions that the cloud has enabled companies, particularly SMEs and startups, to access solutions that would have been too costly previously (in a deployed environment) and that the cloud is providing the necessary conditions to finally make the bold predictions around ‘Big Data’ viable.
– Interesting testimony from an (French) entrepreneur on how the cloud is easing many of the challenges in developing his business.  In particular, similarly to what we mentioned in our article yesterday, that it’s removing the demands of server management, freeing up enterpeneurs to focus their time and efforts on product and business development.
– A good schematic of the various activities that businesses, particularly those that are web-based, can transition to the cloud and an overview of the factors to consider when making choices around cloud solutions (i.e. deciding whether to host or not, choosing providers, etc).
– A perspective on how cloud computing has changed the game for developers and, from one developer’s perspective, the types of new cloud solutions he would like to see in the near future.
Yes, the whitepaper was sponsored by Salesforce so is a bit focused on their solutions in some places.  Plus, the cloud solutions and platforms most discussed do tend to lean towards those of the current market leaders.  However, they do offer a lot of good insight on cloud computing as well as useful advice for startups in particular, so all in all a beneficial read.