Archived CEO Blogs

In the right Cloud environment, IT performance goes up while IT costs go down.

Here’s how IT performance goes up:

Applications are hosted on centralized virtual servers in a data center, so …

Each department or end-user no longer needs their own copy of the app,
There’s just one version of the app, designed to be sufficiently flexible and customizable so all can use it on a variety of devices, and
Services are easily scalable, more secure, and more reliable.

Applications can be quickly and automatically provided on demand wherever they’re needed, so …

IT resources are optimized,
The entire IT environment is more responsive and flexible without adding work or cost, and
Access to resources improves without new implementation/deployment risks.

And end-users and their departments — as well as trusted partners — can be networked far more cost-effectively, regardless of location, via a standardized platform that enables integration and process automation between internal departments and partners.

Not so long ago, I came across a press release from Gartner , the analyst firm, which quoted one of its vice presidents saying:

“IT organizations that do not match the request for IT as a service run the risk of internal customers bypassing the IT organization and consuming IT services from the external cloud, thereby placing the company at greater risk.”

It turns out that the analysts at Gartner see a world of hybrid IT architectures. Their view is that IT organizations are becoming brokers of IT services, some of which are hosted internally, some of which reside in externally hosted Clouds.

It’s pretty clear that mobility will be a major factor in why organizations of all sizes turn to Cloud Computing . The numbers speak for themselves:

More than 2.5 billion users will connect to the Internet over the next several years via more than 10 billion devices. By 2015, this demand will require 8 times the storage capacity of 2010 as well as 16 times the network capacity and upwards of 20 times the compute capacity.

So here’s how it’ll go…

For years, traditional siloed IT has been so rigid that even cast-in-concrete, one-size fits-all cloud services offer important improvements. This IBM study from last year shows where those improvements are: In flexibility, scalability, and efficiency — as well as reducing costs and providing the ability to ensure business continuity in the face of unanticipated disruption.

The siloed nature of traditional data center architectures has produced “you-can’t-get-there-from-here” IT environments. Too often applications, data, and storage devices don’t interact , resources are wasted (e.g., one workload per server), and complex management hassles often lead to risky administrative lapses that result in security vulnerabilities.

The result: IT infrastructures that are too unwieldy, too expensive, and too slow at a time when agility and responsiveness are essential for success.

We’re seeing more and more interest in Cloud Computing of late — and some lingering confusion about both what it is and what Cloud options a small-to-midsize business really has these days.

So buckle your seatbelts. I’m going to discuss Cloud, and in the process, I’ll lay out what I see as the benefits of Cloud Computing — especially when it’s done right. (And yes, I’ll get to that, too, so keep dropping by…)

OK, so in the beginning there was Cloud Computing. Last year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was kind enough to offer up a definition , which has since become something of a standard: