In late 1996, a group of Compaq and Netcentric executives gathered at an office park outside Houston and gave birth to a new idea: cloud computing. Technology would never be the same.

According to MIT Technology Review, Compaq’s 50-page internal analysis of ideas discussed at that meeting accurately predicted that enterprise software would transform into cloud services and that the future meant “application software is no longer a feature of the hardware — but of the Internet.”

Today, cloud computing fuels all kinds of businesses growth. Successful enterprises routinely align IT “infostructure” with business goals. If solutions aren’t nimble, scalable, secure, convenient, and low cost — they aren’t solutions at all.

To thrive in today’s healthcare environment, practices need to understand how a rapidly changing market is making a subtle shift from patient-centric care to creating a customer-centric experience.

Thanks to brands such as Uber and Amazon, today’s healthcare customers are more tech-savvy and connected than previous generations. They expect instant results, delivered with five-star service. For example, according to Google, searches for “open now” are increasing while searches for “store hours” are declining.

The Economist calls it "time poverty" — the notion that there’s not enough time to do all the work we need to do. Against that backdrop, healthcare providers still need to find ways to connect.