Julian Goldsmith wrote last week on a recent Silicon.com survey of CIOs about whether cloud computing is “part of their IT strategy to cut costs.” The majority of those surveyed said no, they are not looking to cloud computing to cut costs today. This resistance is to be expected and really comes as no surprise. Today is the time for the early adopters. CIOs reacted in exactly the same when SaaS was introduced. Now, Salesforce.com has become mainstream and a technology powerhouse.
While there was initially hesitation about SaaS as a new, untested technology, once an enterprise explored the easy of deployment and cost advantages, the move was a no brainer. The same is already happening for cloud computing. Though 10 of the 12 surveyed said the cloud is not part of their current cost cutting strategy, today’s economy will continue to make the ease and low cost of most cloud services more appealing, and will eventually lead more CIOs to migrate to the cloud.
Goldsmith highlights security as the main concern for CIOs. However, he does note that those surveyed do recognize the potential down the line. He writes, “Despite the comprehensive ‘no’ vote, some CIOs expect that the cloud will indeed play a part in their future tech plans. Ben Acheson, IT manager of PADS Printing and Commercial Stationery, believes cloud computing will become part of his strategy once the wrinkles have been ironed out.”
It really just boils down to early adopters and those who will jump into the cloud later on, once they feel more comfortable. Alistair Behenna, CIO at Harvey Nash, was in the minority of the survey, having recognized the opportunity for his current IT strategies. He noted that cloud computing “has to be a viable strand in any IT strategy fabric.” He also said that it is “certainly not the whole solution but it is undeniably useful for specific areas of the infrastructure and service delivery.”
It’s always valuable to hear the concerns of those making the IT decisions. Survey these same CIOs in a year and you will see many more saying that cloud computing has become part of their cost cutting IT strategy. Survey again in three years and cloud computing is sure to be ubiquitous. Once the early adopters see that that “wrinkles have been ironed out” there will be no question that cloud is to stay for quite some time.
Hi, very nice post. I have been wonder’n bout this issue,so thanks for posting