Cloud Computing Now?

Here's why you need cloud:

• Drives up utilization, drives down internal costs
• Improves flexibility and agility in IT infrastructure
• Benefits the end user, creating a richer customer experience

Which definition matches your thoughts on cloud computing?

• On-demand computing that uses applications and resources outside the company's data center
• Pay-per-use service over the Internet that extends IT capabilities
• Massively scalable IT solution that serves multiple external customers across the Internet
• Use of your laptop in flight

The powerful potential of cloud computing is no longer just on the horizon; it's already an increasingly popular innovation that allows users to access services through the Internet. Its definition and application may differ from enterprise to enterprise. But no matter the interpretation, the impact of cloud computing is both internal – transforming IT infrastructure into an automated, efficient, shared model, and external – sourcing services from an outside provider.

The significant rewards that might follow are not without risks. Still, today's economic downturn should be driving the decisions of CIOs to make cloud part of their service portfolio, says Scott McClellan, CTO, Scalable Computing & Infrastructure Organization, HP.

The Economic Factor

As corporate efficiency dominates the daily discussion, executives should take advantage of the downturn to finally move forward with cloud computing, McClellan says, and complete that internal IT transformation they've put off.

“In a short period of time, you can improve flexibility and agility in your own internal infrastructure by transforming into automated, virtualized, and service-centric IT governance,” McClellan says. “You can drive up utilization, drive down costs – and do it now.”

Moving to cloud is a shift in the way organizations use IT, says Theresa Lanowitz, founder of analyst firm Voke, Inc. and former lead analyst at Gartner. Cloud delivers an instant, massive, global, and scalable infrastructure. Lowering capital expenditures is the most desirable benefit of cloud computing in today's economic climate.

“This ability to utilize resources when and where necessary is an incredibly powerful asset,” Lanowitz says, “and the next step in making businesses truly global.”

Executives, however, often harbor well-founded concerns that manifest as potential barriers. One concern regards security around the data model. Other fears relate to service level agreements (SLAs) concerning quality and continuity of service when sourcing from a third-party provider. Additionally, cultural barriers, such as an internal reluctance to change, can create delays or hurdles.

Moving Forward

How can IT departments assess the viability of cloud and address these concerns? Positive results come from implementing best practices around internal IT transformation. This helps break down cultural barriers where various lines of business are trying to hold on tight to their IT architecture, McClellan says. The economy plays a hand in this as well. In prosperous times, organizations postpone and even put off making challenging cultural changes because they don't see them as a time-critical necessity, he says. But as the economy tightens, a move toward efficiency and innovation provides incentive to break down those barriers and try out new ideas.

Implementing cloud as part of a hybrid strategy that brings value internally and externally will help balance the risks and rewards. Once enterprises leverage cloud computing, often cost savings and a richer customer experience are passed along to end users, McClellan says, which can help your organization exit the downturn with a stronger competitive edge.

So have you figured out the answer to the question posed in the beginning? The first three – and the fourth, too. Who says the sky's the limit when it comes to cloud?