Recommended Strategies for the CIO Considering Cloud Computing
As many of you know, SandHill.com is the online resource created for enterprise software executives. Kamesh Pemmaraju heads cloud research for the SandHill Group and writes a weekly report on the latest happenings influencing the cloud computing community. His latest report entitled Top 5 Cloud Strategies for CIOs is based on a survey of 511 software executives. The survey deals with these executive’s perceptions of cloud computing, their initiatives, implementation issues, and any perceived benefits. His report presents the top 5 strategies CIOs should follow when considering cloud computing. I will present a brief synopsis of those findings here as follows:
1. Treat this decision like any other business decision: Pemmaraju simply means to look at all the alternatives and do a traditional compare and contracts analysis. Look at the ROI and weigh the risks.
2. The cloud is coming – Embrace it: Pemmaraju quotes one executive, “The cloud will come - it's happening now even if it is coming with a lot of hype and a lot of buzzwords. It's a very logical transition - like we are going from individual car craftsmanship into the era of the industrialization of IT services.” A large amount of the survey respondents have already started trials and pilot projects to jump start the learning curve for their personnel.
3. A sandbox spurs innovation: Create an innovation sandbox in the cloud. The drag on spending due to maintenance is lifted. This new found freedom allows IT departments to redirect efforts from infrastructure constraints to more creative ways to run the business model.
4. Cloud computing is a furtherance of Outsourcing trend: With this in mind, Pemmaraju presents a short checklist when evaluating whether to move in this direction:
a. Perform your due diligence and pick a good cloud computing vendor.
b. Confirm that support levels are adequate.
c. Obtain copies of vendor certifications (i.e. SAS 70 etc.)
d. Is your data retrievable in your desired format?
e. How is your data isolated and protected from others?
5. Retrain your IT staff: As one CIO respondent succinctly stated, “The jobs of people who sit there patching thousands of servers each time there is a change—those jobs are going away.” The focus will turn from infrastructure to vendor management, and program management, and business analysis.
Pemmaraju concludes his report with an analysis of the impact open source is having on cloud computing. He states that proprietary licenses are lagging in their offerings for cloud computing and so many cloud platforms are run on top of open source stacks. This will have an effect on hardware sales as most companies will be trying to avoid the big expenditures on infrastructure.
Yes, the cloud is here
I find that there is an important issue to resolve
Where the Data base resides
For example. Non US companies are hesitant to use cloud computing if any of the data will reside on US based Data Centers (many companies have major DC in the US) becuase of the Patriot Act that enables government agencies to access data in the uS territory.
I have heard MS responding that in the cloud there are risk. However thie reasoning is not allowing the Cloud computing to grow on the large enterprise as a valid way to look at the software use of tomorrow.
I imagine small DC will be appearing in local markets and offering cloud computing with the warranty to have the data stored close to the clients.