Why?
Because cloud technology offers advantages to enable entities to focus on their core business. It, being cloud technology, offers the ability to scale, store, be faster, stronger, and leap tall buildings in a single bound - well, okay, so you may not be able to successfully do everything, but it sure opens possibilities.It is not a magic pill, but it is (hopefully) a long-term relationship.
Online dating. I met the love of my life that way, and so far, we have been just ducky!
1. Once you decide to enter the online dating field, do your research. What do you want out of it? How much do you want to put into it? What is your risk and your risk appetite? How much of yourself are you willing to share?
2. Create a profile of what you are looking for. What do you want your new partner to look like, act like? What are their specialties? How much do they make? Are these preferences or hard lines?
3. Go live and enter the field! Don't get excited, this is by far not your last step.
4. Now you start screening with the information that the potential mates have made available. You may not like what you see, so those are easy enough to screen out. But if they look attractive/sound appealing, be careful. They don't deliberately put out bad information.
5. Here is where you make a decision - do you start talking to all of those who are appealing? or do you do further research? It depends on whether you want the experience of getting to know a wide range of vendors or if you are sincerely just focused on finding the right partner for a specific, identified need. (I don't judge here - it's your need.)
6. Once it looks like you may have found the perfect mate or at least a few potential ones who could be your perfect mate, meet them in person. Look past the courting to the substance; but do make sure they do the fancy courting - you deserve it. If they cannot afford it, find out why. But don't discount the poor ones, just because they are poor. Ask the hard questions.
7. Narrow down your selection and get to know each of them intimately (again, no judging. your level of intimacy is your choice.) Put them through a trust test. Introduce them to your friends and family (key stakeholders, compliance, etc.).
8. Meet their friends and family - and importantly, their current and former mates. You really do not want this to be a monogamous relationship. If their entire business or a significant portion of it depends one mate, then they may not survive the loss of that mate. In this, polygamous love is a good thing.
9. Heart, head, or gut.. Make a choice. I recommend going with the head over the heart, but sometimes the gut also works. Seriously, this choice should not be made lightly. Bring all of your evaluation tools to bear and be skeptical.
10. Have an exit strategy. Make sure your prenup is strong. Hopefully, you never need it, but be prepared for the worst.
Good luck and may the goddesses of love and clouds be on your side.
