Greetings.  The world of business and business models is changing very rapidly as innovations in the way we receive and share information challenge "old" ways of doing things.  This is especially true in industries like books, music, news, and movies where the digital delivery of content is providing compelling alternatives. Now it's also hovering over the world of video gaming…a world dominated until now by the makers of four incredibly popular boxes–Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's Playstation, and Nintendo's Wii and DS.  Their new and seemingly formidable competitor is a company called OnLive which has just launched a "cloud"-based gaming service that could shake up this $15 billion industry. 

For those of you who haven't spent much time thinking about clouds lately, the idea is pretty straightforward and clever.  Instead of purchasing a gaming system, customers can access and play games through a centralized server or "cloud" using their own broadband connection and any desktop, laptop, mobile device, or even TV.  This means saving the upfront investment to configure your own system, and having the opportunity to play basically any game instantly.  And the implications for equipment manufacturers, software developers, and all of the people who sell video games are dramatic.

At the heart of all of this is the big idea that we can substitute services for many products.  In this case, that we can buy a gaming service with instant access to all of the world's gaming content rather than buying a box and the physical version of the games.  It sounds logical enough, though no one would have imagined it just a few short years ago.  Which begs the question of how this change might influence your business or organization, and how you might use the very same idea to drive greater choice and value to the customers you serve.

We win in business when we use technology to change our relationship with customers.  And when we use our genius and imagination to find wisdom in the clouds.  Are your customers looking for better products or better solutions?  It's a good question to ask on a regular basis.

Cheers!