Right now, the buzz around cloud computing is endless. But, it’s just the latest trend. In the past, it’s been B2B marketplaces, best-of-breed solutions for targeted business challenges and even the internet as a whole. The hidden cost of innovation is that IT solution provider’s need to explain the value and viability of these emerging technologies to skeptical decision-makers who are heavily invested in the status quo. Eventually, you know, today’s innovation will become tomorrow’s legacy platform, but that doesn’t make getting over the hump any easier.

So, how do you approach a CIO or IT director with something new, like private cloud computing solution?

Well, cautiously.

It’s easy to get excited about the Next Big Thing. You are selling a solution that you know will change the datacenter forever. But, “new” and “exciting” will not resonate with risk-averse professionals. Instead, you need to focus on the benefits around risk management, reliability, TCO and ROI. Emphasize how business users will benefit, budget will be preserved and IT teams will be deployed more effectively. Prove the technology, and demonstrate results.

Emerging technology is what keeps the IT sector moving forward, making it the source of both challenge and opportunity for IT solution providers. Master your pitch to CIOs, and you’ll be the one who takes them into the future.