Business grudgingly relies on IT to manage the books, usually to automate boring repeatable tasks fast and cheaply and sometimes to create a unique value to the business (when possible). IT is rarely viewed as an equal partner in business and more as a utility player that makes things happen…. slowly.
When the world of IT evolved around the mainframe, business was pretty much held hostage to what it could ask and certainly for when it would be delivered. Personal computers and distributed systems eroded that that hold on business, but usually at a significant cost to the business. Centralized IT means expenses can be more easily be examined versus having those same expenses scattered and buried across an entire organization.
Cloud Computing is another variation of the same theme. Business wants flexibility to respond quickly, and IT sees this flexibility as a loss of control. IT is charged with maintaining the sanctity of corporate networks, data and applications, but no longer knows or controls all of the services that the business is using. Controlling this hybrid environment (in-house, outsourced, cloud) is becoming more difficult, and it is getting worse as more and more services become available from a variety of sources. IT needs to consider that it is now the manager or coordinator of suppliers to deliver the product called a Business Service.
IT Service Management is going to become exceptionally complex, and the Business Services supplied has to ensure that the aggregation of components is at a price that the service can bear and be delivered at an acceptable cost whilst meeting the performance SLA.
The bottom line to all of this discussion surrounding Cloud Computing in the technical press is there is lack of security, lack of standards, service levels will be difficult to measure and manage, and integration into the existing IT infrastructure will be untenable. There are very few articles devoted to understanding Cloud Computing in terms of meeting business expectations for performance, integrity, confidentiality, cost and meeting business priorities. If anyone can remember back to the introduction of the IBM PC the current IT arguments against Cloud Computing have a very familiar sound.
Smart IT leaders will take this new concept and quickly integrate “pilots” and define how to lead the introduction into business, versus throwing up arguments that fall on deaf business ears and at the end of the day are generally meaningless as business are charged with making money, sometimes at the expense of violating IT standards.
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