Business growth forum about moving to the cloud set for May 20

The pros and cons of moving to the cloud will be the topic of the next Washington State University-Vancouver Business Growth Mentor & Analysis Program Alliance forum.

The free, 90-minute session will be held Wednesday, May 20, at 8:30 a.m., in the second-floor conference room, at 805 Broadway St., Vancouver.

Michael Curry, an assistant clinical professor of management information systems at WSU-V, will present an overview of the cloud.

Curry consults with companies that leverage the cloud, and he specializes in improving organizational value chains through the integration of technology.

He also teaches and conducts research on the synthesis of information technology in business.

Joel Stangeland, chief executive officer of Trek Global, will offer examples of how other businesses are leveraging the technology and typical paths to adopting the cloud’s capabilities. Trek Global is a cloud system provider.

Stangeland’s 19 years in the information technology industry include project management and developing a web application with a $9 million annual return on investment on process improvement.

The Business Growth MAP Alliance brings together small businesses and entrepreneurs to learn from each other, industry experts and WSU-V faculty. For more information or to register online, visit business.vancouver.wsu.edu/bgmap/.