Chicago IT Leaders Share Their Views on the Future of the Cloud

By Chris Kabat, Vice President – Connected Business Systems, MPS Partners

It’s no wonder many IT professionals are still on the fence about cloud computing. As we heard during the recent Illinois Technology Association (ITA) Cloud Computing Roundtable, where we discussed and debated the findings from the MPS Partners and Microsoft pulse survey, The Future of Cloud Computing: Is “The Cloud” the Next Revolutionary Change for IT?, there’s a mixed bag of IT organizations that use the cloud (around 25% of attendees and 34% of survey respondents) and those who see it as a technology that will change IT operations over the next 10 years (86% of survey respondents).

What are the reasons for this dichotomy? The valuable roundtable discussion, which was chaired by MPS Partners, revealed that there are solid reasons to embrace this emerging technology. At the same time, conversations exposed that there are still many unanswered questions about cloud computing and concerns that are keeping arms only halfway up in the reach for the clouds.

Pros of Cloud Computing

• Lower Costs. The number one reason cited for implementing a cloud computing strategy was cost reduction. The conversation concurred with survey findings where respondents cited more capacity for less money, greater functionality for less money and lower total cost of ownership as top reasons for adopting the cloud. While these reasons are accurate, there was discussion around whether at some point focusing just on cost made the cloud a non-sustainable business model. Rather, we should focus on how the cloud eliminates other barriers and truly makes a business more agile.
• Agility. Cloud computing opens the door for adaptability and allows IT to act quickly on changes needed from the business side of the table. As one attendee shared, if you’re a large enterprise and the sales organization decides it wants to implement a CRM system, but IT doesn’t have the time or it’s not a priority for them, you’re stuck. With the cloud, IT is able to respond to such a request quickly rather than running the risk of the business getting frustrated and doing it themselves with a tool like SalesForce.com. There was some sentiment that if you’re in IT and the cloud isn’t part of your current or near-term strategy the business side will find ways to take care of their needs without you.
• Ease for Start-ups. The group agreed that making a cloud computing investment is easiest for start-up companies. Starting new, you’d likely put all tools on the cloud and make it your foundation. For larger or more established companies, some say it’s not as easy because of all the intricacies built over the years and multiple components that would need to be moved over, possibly making it a multi-year initiative. Others say that companies need to make upgrades to systems anyway, so why not move functions to the cloud then as you would a normal part of business.

Cons of Cloud Computing

• Cloud Definition. Part of the hesitancy by many organizations to embrace the cloud is the lack of understanding about the technology itself. The group concurred that cloud computing can be different things to different organizations depending on needs. In its simplest form, the cloud, whose term is a metaphor for the Internet, is a paradigm shift where technologies are housed on the Internet instead of on an internal server—making access to all applications and documents available anywhere and anytime. We also achieved consensus that the diagram (featured below) did a good job of representing cloud computing models across the three main components: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service.

• Security/Privacy. As reported in the survey, security also proved to be a top concern for the cloud in this discussion. How secure is the cloud? Can unauthorized users access your data? Are privacy regulations being followed or is compliance at risk? One attendee expressed that security is all perception as the reality is that someone can hack into data on the cloud just as easily as they can internally and further described it as an “old school mentality” to keep data inside for security purposes. Most participants agreed that it’s always best to ask about security measures, regardless.
• Job Security. In larger organizations there seems to be a real sense of fear that moving infrastructure to the cloud could mean reduction in jobs. The reality is, there’s still monitoring and maintenance and all the same responsibilities with the cloud—there’s just not a box (or multiple boxes!) sitting in a physical location. By outsourcing function to the cloud, it can actually free up time to focus on the business challenges that help your business.

There is still great debate about cloud computing and its role as a business strategy. This debate is likely to continue for some time. Some see the cloud like the Internet or e-mail—businesses eventually gravitated in those directions regardless of an early investment. Many feel the same about the cloud—they believe a strategy is not necessary, as their business will gravitate naturally. That being said, companies whose IT teams look at the cloud as a business strategy and an opportunity to bring down barriers to making the business more agile will have a jumpstart. All indications point to the cloud being here to stay; so adoption of this promising technology becomes not a question of if, but when.

The ITA Cloud Computing Roundtable series is intended to help increase the knowledge and resources of IT leaders and professionals seeking to advance business performance by way of the cloud. Please join us for the next Cloud Computing Roundtable on March 18 in Chicago, by registering here. We also invite you to join the discussion as part of the roundtable LinkedIn group, where we’ll request input on questions for the next cloud computing pulse survey and post a link to participate upon launch.

Please visit www.mpspartners.com/cloud or e-mail chris.kabat@mpspartners.com for more information.