Scared-of-the-cloud

In a Computer Weekly round table featuring IT executives discussing the most important transformations occurring in data centers, UK CIO at City broker ICAP Jack Scard-Morgan, had the following to say about cloud computing:

“There are 20 different definitions of what cloud is and we have different comfort zones of what we are happy to put in the cloud, but we are all using some sort of software-as-a-service.”

This encapsulates current attitudes towards cloud computing very well; many companies have hesitations about cloud solutions based upon factors as diverse as performance, security, training, and in some cases the classic “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” mentality. However, the benefits in terms of agility and potential cost saving with a cloud network migration are too great to ignore, meaning that we will be hard-pressed to find an enterprise that is not leveraging at least one SaaS solution.

However, a growing number of startups are rolling out entire operations onto IaaS/PaaS platforms. Organizations such as Netflix have shown that it is possible to run a stable, world-class service organization almost entirely from a cloud platform, and this arrangement is now becoming more of a default option than an overtly risky venture.

Of course, this does not mean that there are no considerations to be made with cloud platforms. An organization has to be able to trust the security guarantees of the vendor, relinquish some of the control that comes with complete ownership of infrastructure, and make sure that its business model accounts for all recurring costs of cloud services. However, we are rapidly seeing that some of the greatest fears with these platforms are often exaggerated.

This also does not imply that every business needs a cloud migration just for its own sake. Not all business models nor functions map over very well to cloud services. However, this fact happens to tie into the cloud philosophy very well; there is value gained in mixing and matching the best available solutions for specific business needs and lowering the barriers to entry in leveraging them.

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