Pop Quiz: What Does the Cloud Really Mean for North Texas?

By: Lane Sorgen, General Manager, South Central District, Microsoft Corp.

Which of the following statements about using cloud computing is true for North Texas businesses?

A.)   The cloud dramatically reduces technology costs.

B.)    The cloud is generating substantial new revenue for North Texas companies.

C.)    The cloud is creating tens of thousands of new jobs in every department of Metroplex businesses.

D.)   All of the above.

The correct answer is D, according to a new study commissioned by Microsoft.

Many businesses here in the Metroplex are aware of the savings that the cloud can produce. By shifting information technology infrastructure and applications to cloud-based services, companies spend far less on buying more servers, networking them, upgrading software and handling other routine chores. The cloud data centers keep the software that businesses rely on up-to-date and the infrastructure they use in good shape.

But now, the Microsoft study, conducted by IDC research, has found that the cloud also is creating new revenues for companies, and those revenues ultimately lead to new hiring in communities around the world.  According to the study, employing the cloud to free IT people from day-to-day manual upkeep gives them more time to work on innovative projects that help the entire company run more efficiently. That IT innovation allows for business innovation, which leads to business revenues, which leads to job creation. 

In fact, the Microsoft study anticipates that the growing opportunity for innovation enabled by the cloud is likely to produce revenue increases totaling $1.1 trillion annually by 2015 for businesses globally. The study further predicts that businesses will use this new revenue to create new jobs—nearly 14 million of them globally through 2015.

These new jobs are not necessarily in IT departments but are distributed throughout organizations. Businesses that spend the dollars that become available from cloud-computing efficiencies are expected to be hiring people in sales, finance, production, marketing, and other units. These departments become more innovative with support from the cloud and sustain the generation of additional revenue.

Here in DFW, the study estimates, more than 14,400 new jobs will be created by the end of 2012, and the cumulative total will reach nearly 23,800 by the end of 2015. That’s enough Texans to completely fill the American Airlines Center for a Mavs game, with enough people turned away to sell out the Winspear Opera House for two nights.

These newly created jobs are expected to be split evenly between large enterprises and smaller businesses, both globally and here in North Texas. The hiring wave is being propelled by the strong technology industry base that makes our region America’s Silicon Prairie.

To learn more about Microsoft’s predictions for the cloud’s impact on jobs, check out the full study and additional resources on the Microsoft News Center.