10
Given the likely existence of does bring to the mix, then, is relationships to be established
Cloud for the reasons we have a lowering of the bar on what circle6 Information risk
given, what are its perceived might at one time have been management, for example in
benefits to technology-buying prohibitively expensive. terms of privacy, international
organisations? There are some law and escrow if a provider
ECTIVES
shared by both smaller and From this point on however, should go into administration
larger organisations, such as the decision criteria are the
ERSP lower operational expense, same as with anything else in It’s not all bad news but the
though this is probably a red IT. However the economic key term we would leave you
herring if taken in isolation. value of the answers may vary, with is ‘due diligence’: choose
More importantly, better overall with the addition of cloud to your suppliers wisely, apply
service levels is what might be the mix: the same stringent factors you
termed ‘table stakes’ – if circle6 Should a given IT capability would for anything else,
something can’t be done better be built from scratch, or ensure that you have
by a third party than it could in- bought-in as a package? considered architectural
house, at the same cost or circle6 Should the supporting constraints such as integration
OUD COMPUTING P cheaper, then why would infrastructure be managed in- and security, and be sure you
CL anyone bother using it at all? house or hosted? know how to get your data out
Meanwhile we have criteria circle6 Should development and if things go wrong.
that are more applicable to operations be staffed by in-
larger companies – IT that can house employees, or To finish off, if there’s one
flex with the business is more outsourced? thing that has remained
of a big-company issue for constant with any new IT fad,
example, whereas smaller A crucial point, is that it would it is the ‘trough of disillusion’ –
organisations might care more be wrong to assume that cloud which is as inevitable for
about specific services which service providers, or indeed Cloud as for anything else.
circumvent the need to run their services are inherently Organisations that know how
certain things in-house. mature. Cloud is an evolution to source services, will also
of how IT is provided but it know how to source from the
Which begs the question – has a way to evolve yet; and Cloud; similarly, those who
how do you decide on what just because cloud is the ‘get’ SOA should find the
Cloud services to adopt? The buzzword du jour, this does integration of Cloud services a
answer is, you don’t. Or at not make it a magic bullet. straightforward progression.
least, that is the wrong There are still plenty of areas
starting point for any decision. where the Cloud is a work in Meanwhile, less enlightened
A better place to start is with progress, not least in terms of: organisations may stumble
what the business is trying to circle6 Financial and contractual into problems of their own
achieve, and what IT services it models, taking into account making, and the backlash
needs to do so. Thus far, we legal requirements of data against wholesale Cloud
have not seen that Cloud by storage in other countries adoption will be followed
itself offers anything circle6 Integration standards and unswervingly by a call for
particularly new in terms of norms, such that information balance, between doing things
business functionality (though can be shared between client in the cloud and doing things
this may change): what we and Cloud, and also across in house. Cloud offers
have seen is that it can be a cloud providers opportunities to be sure – but
very cost-effective way of circle6 Management tools which as we look to what it offers
doing very specific activities – see Cloud services as an our organisations, let’s not
for example, running a series extension of corporate IT throw the baby of existing IT
of compute-intensive circle6 Security and identity out with the bathwater.
simulations, or bringing in management, to minimise
security expertise. What Cloud risks and enable trust www.freeformdynamics.com
MAR/APR 09 WWW.SNS-UK.CO.UK
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