Why “Free” And “Trial” Are The New It Buzzwords

Introduction

This Whitepaper from Alibaba Cloud explores how we have arrived at the concept of ‘free trials’ for cloud computing services, and how organizations large and small can adapt to take advantage of this new and unusual financial model.

The Whitepaper explains the scope of a typical cloud computing service and describes the key technologies which are available on a trial basis. It also highlights the opportunities that have opened up by being able to test and experiment with services that cost almost nothing in practice.

It also offers hacks for managing proliferation, how to get the best out of free trials and some practical housekeeping skills,with advice on the internal cultural and process changes which an organization may need in order to get the best out of the unusual situation where technologies can come and go at no cost. Given the growing pressure for IT to demonstrate value,we suggest that a proactive policy towards free trials may help demonstrate IT’s attention to cost control and efficiency.