Moving to the cloud could foster 6,000 jobs in Vancouver over the next three years, according to a study commissioned by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT).
Microsoft, which uses its massive data centres to provide cloud computing, commissioned IDC to study the job creation power of cloud migration.
The IDC study concluded cloud computing could create 14 million jobs worldwide over the next three years, 70,000 Canada-wide and 6,000 in Vancouver – a claim dismissed by TechEYE.net as “drivel.”
Earlier this year, at its annual technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) predictions, Deloitte said cloud migration is happening slower than the hype would suggest.
But David MacLaren, founder and CEO of Vancouver-headquartered VRX Studios Inc., has become an evangelist for cloud computing, which he said does create new job opportunities.
That may seem counterintuitive, since significant numbers of IT staff become obsolete when much of a company’s server needs are outsourced. But in VRX’s case, the move spawned a whole new business division: MediaValet.
VRX Studios produces, distributes and manages about four million photographs of 8,000 hotels around the world. This requires a lot of data storage (20 terabytes), which the company previously managed in-house. But when the company decided it needed a new data centre, it opted for Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform instead.
The cloud option was 50% cheaper than staying in-house, MacLaren said. And as a consequence of the move, the company also decided to build a new digital asset management system – MediaValet – which turned into a new business division serving VRX Studios’ hotel clients, as well as other companies needing a digital asset management system to handle large volumes images and documents.
“The cloud not only enabled us to save money, it also opened up an entirely new opportunity for us that we hadn’t ever considered, and that was building our own digital asset system on the cloud,” MacLaren said.
MediaValet has created 15 new jobs, said MacLaren, who expects to see another 10 added by the end of the year.
