Really...Why? Business in 2011 and beyond.

So, I find myself in the middle of a really cool training session. The class is being run by webinar with a live instructor and it is 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Yes 40 hours of webinar. Oh joy! Truth be told, I am getting ready for today's session now. I've got 2 hours before class. What to do before I am forced to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours? I know...blog :)

Here's my "really....why?" moment. There are 16 students in this class and it is going really well. We're learning about a Cloud-based software business suite and how it is changing the lives of businesses and business people around the world. In the middle of the class, a few of us are taking advantage of the "private chat" feature of the webinar software.

As I am home, feet up on my patio table, with birds chirping and rabbits running, I get the answers to my question:

"My boss says I have to be here in the conference room because that's where business is done", says one. Another offers, "I was told that I would be paid for my time only if I took the class from my desk.".

Really? You're on a class about THE CLOUD. Really? Why? It occurs to me that Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms and software have been created in order to detach us from the need, the expense, the leash to our servers and our offices. If I may be so bold, to detach us from the past.

We are in a new environment with new rules and, more importantly, new employees. TrueCloud CEO Dave Rice likes to say that "if we try to keep today's employee satisfied with old technology and old rules, it simply will not work." The days of sitting down a new employee in front of a putty colored screen and a new ergo keyboard and wishing them good luck are gone! The days of your development genius going home early and pushing through a huge project at 1AM, filled with enthusiasm and Mountain Dew are here.

My advice? Get on the bus. Let the technology work for you. We must unhinge from our old in order to get to the new. We must be more willing to accept the new paradigm, the new tools and the new spirit that Cloud and SaaS permits us.

Now, I am not a proponent of complete telecommuting for everyone in every case, but a day or two outside the office is refreshing for everyone. It builds trust. It builds the feeling of independent ownership and more importantly, it builds success.

OK...I need to get my coffee brewing for today's session. I'm wearing shorts and a T-Shirt, my stereo has Pink Floyd oozing from the speakers, I have a bagel in the toaster and I'm ready for whatever the Cloud has to offer. Are you?