One of the hot new terms in information technology is cloud computing. According to some of the writers and pundits who cover developments in infotech, many IT departments could soon be replaced by cloud computing providers. That would be OK with me but I’m dubious as to how quickly the change could take place.
There are any number of factors that have to be taken into account. Any organization that is considering cloud computing models has to feel a sense of assurance that the scalability and speed come with stability and appropriate security. Most important, some companies, the ones with a culture of control, will never adopt cloud computing. At least, they will never adopt it unless they control the entire cloud.
Just as SaaS (sofware as a service) required ceding critical data control to a third party vendor, cloud computing requires giving up that central authority. The CEO cannot call his CIO in the middle of the night, rousting an IT staff whose jobs depend on fixing any problem (real or perceived) when the data is in someone else’s cloud. The leverage just isn’t the same when you are not the ONLY customer and the source of bread and butter for everyone in your IT chain of command.
If I am ever replaced by a cloud I look forward to the opportunity to take some much needed vacation time. Since I work for a conservative firm that values control more than it values scalability, I am watching the progress of this new idea with interest devoid of any alarm.
If you are the CIO of a modern, risk taking, early adopting kind of company then you might benefit from the scalability, improved deployment times and simpler management of systems offered by clouds. On the other hand, you could just migrate your existing infrastructure to VMWare and keep control. That’s what we’ve done.