To Cloud, Or Not To Cloud - Do You Have A Choice?

To cloud or not to cloud; that is the question. But do you really have a choice? There is a recent article by Cindy Waxer on CIO.com that outlines a number of potential benefits and pitfalls. The bottom line is that there is no single one answer for everyone. Yes it's certainly cheaper but what happens to your business if Amazon S3 or Google Apps goes down for several hours (again)?

"At this point, the cloud remains too leaky
In the end, it's up to each company to decide how much risk it is willing to take on -- and whether the damages accruing from a service disruption might offset the savings and convenience promised by a cloud computing service."

Is the Cloud Reliable Enough for Your Business? - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership.

Defining a cloud strategy as a company is a daunting task but what about rogue cloud use? What are people doing to prevent or limit individuals within the company from jumping the gun and using cloud computing before the corporate cloud strategy is defined? Are people at your company using cloud systems right now? How do you know?

One strategy for IT to maintain control is to embrace the cloud early - not 100% - but on a smaller, trial basis. Be clear about compliance and governance: what are the recommended uses, what are the limitations (especially concerning sensitive data), etc. Also clearly communicate the value-add of IT: which cloud provider to use, system support, back-up, monitoring, etc.

Of course when it comes to marketing IT services, a service catalog is a great solution. But if you're reading this blog you probably already know that.

-Jamie

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Comments

[Cheryl]

To Cloud or not to cloud, that is the question eh? For most it will continue to be the question or affordability and maintenance.DataCloud integration can be a tricky thing, trusting people to do their jobs and make sure everything runs smoothly. The point is that there are always going to be hiccups in maintaining software and websites. Most people wouldn't have a job if there wasn't something to fix. I think eventually most companies will choose to make use of cloud integration.