CIO Article on Cloud Analysis Paralysis
Posted by Margaret Dawson on October 22, 2010
Kevin Fogarty, a writer with CIO magazine, wrote recently that confusion reigns over cloud computing. He references a recent survey by Hubspan that showed the greatest barrier to companies moving to the cloud was lack of understanding over cloud benefits.
While it’s easy to assume with all the communication about cloud that anyone not understanding the benefits must be a bit dim, or as Bernard Golden says in Kevin’s article, ” Have they been living under a rock?” But I think it is because there is information overload, and so it’s hard for IT folks to figure out how to specifically evaluate the cloud for their company or specific situation.
As I’ve said in multiple blogs, part of the problem is people are starting with wrong question. Rather than asking ‘what is the cloud’ or ‘how do I get to the cloud’, companies should be asking ‘what is my business challenge and what solutions might help me solve it’. If one of those solutions happens to be a cloud-based product, then evaluate it just like you would any other product. The cloud is nothing more than a different way to consume or deliver technology.
And yes, it has inherent benefits, including no on-premise footprint, pay-as-you-go subscription pricing, easy scalability or elasticity, increased agility and fast time to implementation, etc. But the solution still must solve a challenge and do what it promises to do from a feature/functionality standpoint.
In speaking to CIOs, I have seen companies that are doing a good job of establishing clear criteria around when to both outsource an IT solution and leverage the cloud. I’ll write more on this next week.
As with any new approach to technology, the cloud is both all the rage and the source of great pain for IT organizations. The best thing you can do is don’t start with the cloud – start with the solution.
Tags: Bernard Golden, CIO, Cloud computing benefits, Kevin Fogarty
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