SAN JOSE: Cloud computing is now such a central part of the IT enterprise landscape that firms cannot ignore its benefits any longer, according to the chief information officer of mobile chip giant Qualcomm.

Speaking at NetSuite’s Suiteworld event on Tuesday Norm Fjeldheim (pictured left) said that the firm has been a keen adopter of the cloud, including products from NetSuite, and that IT teams are now accepting that the cloud is a key part of the future of enterprise IT.

“We were an early adopter of SaaS applications – we liked it as a solution for our business and I see this trend continuing,” he said, explaining that the firm had used NetSuite for the launch of a new division in Mexico due to the speed of getting services live in the cloud.

“Even security guys are now saying, ‘alright, the cloud is here to stay and I’m going to have to deal with this’.”

Fjeldheim also believes firms that have been slow to embrace the cloud, and remain sceptical of its benefits, risk being left behind. “Cloud is a positive force and I think it’s a big change for the industry – if I were Oracle or SAP I’d be really worried.”

The comments on cloud from NetSuite and Qualcomm come in the same month V3 launched the May edition of the V3 tablet app focused on cloud computing, which is available now for download from the iTunes store.

It can be downloaded free by registering on the V3 website and then using the same credentials when prompted to get the app for free. It costs only £1.99 if you do not want to register.