Is cloud computing the future, or an experiment not quite ready for prime time?
IT is driving costs down in virtually every sector of the economy. Economic turmoil, perhaps here to stay for decades, puts extra pressure on downward cost curves. Executives have two choices regarding technology; leverage it to obtain further cost reduction, or cut back on technology purchases to ostensibly obtain the same result.
Choosing the second option is choosing not to play at all, and preserves the status quo. Standing still in a changing landscape may not be the wisest course, however each situation must be judged on its unique merits.
Cloud computing
Assuming that 70-80% of organizations will choose to leverage technology, the question of cloud computing inevitably arises. The benefits seem clear; beyond load balancing and increased availability, the potential for decreasing up-front capital costs while increasing flexibility and reaction times holds promise. And if correctly configured, there must be a value in freeing resources to concentrate on the business.
The economics of cloud computing is simple. Capacity both in storage and computation is sticky. Since the cloud is variable, business potentially avoids both constraint and idle capacity as supply steps through the rising demand graph.
The concern must be security, not to mention jealous IT departments protective of their own domains. Still, the potential remains.
One option is to increasingly dip the toe in the water rather than diving in the deep end while infrastructures and service offerings are built out. Tactics vary:
- carve out business applications which pass security concerns and use them as pilots.
- experiment with file storage, since it by definition includes off-site benefits.
Experiments and pilots allow introduction and familiarity while learning the technology, which usually inspires further use. Cloud computing is not going away. And like the electricity grids they emulate, they will evolve and become ever more persistent.
One of the most essential components in driving down cost is the nature of pricing and service schemes. And those solutions are functions of unique customer needs and evolving service provider capability. No one learns to swim standing on the shore.
Is cloud computing ready for prime time? The answer is that it is the wrong question. The question is how to learn and leverage the technology to benefit the organization.
