Cloud and the Manufacturing Industry

According to The 2011 Microsoft Discrete Manufacturing Cloud Computing Survey, "cloud computing also facilitates efficient collaboration across geographies(47.7 percent) and the ability to respond quickly to business demands (38.4 percent)." However, even with this increased sharing and collaboration, one key missing ingredient has emerged: the integration of these tools with backend business systems. Think of it as building the perfect car. Even if you build the perfect, most efficient engine, if you do not know how to connect that engine to the car, you will have a disjointed mess. The key mix is going to be companies and cloud technologies that facilitate an industry wide collaboration between manufacturing products, IT providers, service providers, and integrators themselves.