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The cloud has created a strange division in some companies with some claiming, as you say, that it could possibly eliminate the IT dept and with IT dept's reacting dismissively to these claims. You correctly reject both of these ideas for a more level-headed and moderate approach. The IT dept is not going anywhere, cloud services may be the way forward but people will still be needed to manage servers. On the other hand for some to claim that the cloud will have no affect is also wrong, the cloud will likely have some affect on the nature IT dept's but how great remains to be seen.
Greater than 10 years at least, probably greater than 20 years.
Data keeps getting bigger, internet speeds have not kept up.
Data keeps getting bigger, internet speeds have not kept up.
While the cloud will eliminate some IT roles, it will effectively create others. Some smaller companies might be able to outsource their IT needs, while others might have to create a larger IT staff to manage their "Private Cloud"
This is basically the same argument that I have heard year after year about various roles in the IT industry. I wasn't around then, but when the Mainframes and Mini computers became less important and PCs became the entry point instead of Terminals, Mainframes were going to disappear and people who ran them were as well. They still exist, just are marginalized. But because of PCs, we saw the need for larger IT shops, not smaller ones. Every new management tool is supposed to eliminate the need for IT, but another role opens up elsewhere. Tablets and other devices open up a whole new world of headache and while the cloud eliminates some of the application troubleshooting, it creates entirely new vectors.
Also, having dealt with various cloud application vendors already, the shift in responsibility may sound all fine and dandy, but the reality is, larger vendors seem to create more problems and place less importance on smaller shops for getting business done. Cloud computing in my experience will be the same as outsourcing or off shoring. Especially since they are effectively the same thing. Instead of getting work done or yelling at the local IT staff, management or the appointed contact will spend their time yelling at the cloud provider asking why they can't seem to make their application work properly.
Cloud computing sounds awesome, it isn't. It has just as many IT problems as before, the problem is that it puts a space between IT and the people that need IT help.
This is basically the same argument that I have heard year after year about various roles in the IT industry. I wasn't around then, but when the Mainframes and Mini computers became less important and PCs became the entry point instead of Terminals, Mainframes were going to disappear and people who ran them were as well. They still exist, just are marginalized. But because of PCs, we saw the need for larger IT shops, not smaller ones. Every new management tool is supposed to eliminate the need for IT, but another role opens up elsewhere. Tablets and other devices open up a whole new world of headache and while the cloud eliminates some of the application troubleshooting, it creates entirely new vectors.
Also, having dealt with various cloud application vendors already, the shift in responsibility may sound all fine and dandy, but the reality is, larger vendors seem to create more problems and place less importance on smaller shops for getting business done. Cloud computing in my experience will be the same as outsourcing or off shoring. Especially since they are effectively the same thing. Instead of getting work done or yelling at the local IT staff, management or the appointed contact will spend their time yelling at the cloud provider asking why they can't seem to make their application work properly.
Cloud computing sounds awesome, it isn't. It has just as many IT problems as before, the problem is that it puts a space between IT and the people that need IT help.
needed to ensure the same basic tasks are organised and done as required - either that or a high level purchasing person has to learn about the same stuff and check it's done as they administer the contract. In short no manpower saving at all, showing the cloud costings are false as the advertising doesn't cover all that is currently done in house .
you have no information technology?
Erm, aaaah, let me think, erm NO
Sheesh
Erm, aaaah, let me think, erm NO
Sheesh
and the cloud does not mean no control anyway.
How you exercise control will certainly change, but that wasn't my point.
You can't divorce information from the business, you need technology to get information from your data, therefore you need competent professionals to help you do that.
There are of course people trying to sell the fallacy that you can do it without them, but that's not new. There's always some fool you can part from his money,and there are always those who's ethics can stretch to that.
Neither worry me...
How you exercise control will certainly change, but that wasn't my point.
You can't divorce information from the business, you need technology to get information from your data, therefore you need competent professionals to help you do that.
There are of course people trying to sell the fallacy that you can do it without them, but that's not new. There's always some fool you can part from his money,and there are always those who's ethics can stretch to that.
Neither worry me...
The "cloud" is a fad that will die out after 2 or 3 major security breaches destroy or expose critical / sensitive data of large corporations.
" I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that wont last out the year. " - Editor of Prentice Hall business books, 1957
The Editor had turned down a manuscript discussing the science behind data processing and the above was his explanatory statement. The New York Times comments: Fads have a way of sticking around long after those who call them that are gone. [Source: The New York Times]
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-spectacularly-wrong-predictions-computers-internet/
The Editor had turned down a manuscript discussing the science behind data processing and the above was his explanatory statement. The New York Times comments: Fads have a way of sticking around long after those who call them that are gone. [Source: The New York Times]
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-spectacularly-wrong-predictions-computers-internet/
Like outsourcing, and then in-sourcing, then outsourcing, and then in-sourcing. I'm almost convinced that someone somewhere waits the three years it takes human memory to evaporate and re-introduces an old fad, re-branded as the 'next new thing'.....
This is why anecdotal evidence is broadly considered unreliable. Simply pointing out that someone mis-called a fad in the 50's does not have any bearing on the validity of my statement. Lots of tech fads have come and gone (PointCast, Clippy, DigiScent iSmell, Flexplay DVDs, etc.). How about a quote from someone saying "I told you so, those really were fads!".
The point is that the idea of letting a 3rd party store your sensitive corporate data and not even having a local backup copy of that data (the definition of "cloud" storage) is FAIL from the outset. But it's the current "hot thing" so some corporate execs are turning off their brains and running with it because their lackeys have told them what a great idea it is.
So what's going to happen? Someone is going to lose their data. Some corporation will lose hundreds of terabytes of intellectual property. This is inevitable. Chances are it will be due to a malicious cracker, possibly an agent of one of the nations actively working every day to crack into systems with the intent of disrupting operations or stealing data. One of these cloud storage companies will have a vulnerability they don't know about, and because they are storing so much data for so many corporations they will be a prime target worth throwing cracking resources at in abundance.
AFTER this event takes place, "cloud" storage will be a dead concept. It is simply too risky to entrust your critical data to a 3rd party, period.
As for "cloud" services, this is simply a rebranding of SOA; it's not anything new. Calling it "cloud" is a fad -- the name will be changed every few years to keep people thinking that something novel and groundbreaking has been created, when in fact it is nothing more than a small incremental improvement of what existed before. An exciting new name makes it easier to trick people into paying a premium for it.
The point is that the idea of letting a 3rd party store your sensitive corporate data and not even having a local backup copy of that data (the definition of "cloud" storage) is FAIL from the outset. But it's the current "hot thing" so some corporate execs are turning off their brains and running with it because their lackeys have told them what a great idea it is.
So what's going to happen? Someone is going to lose their data. Some corporation will lose hundreds of terabytes of intellectual property. This is inevitable. Chances are it will be due to a malicious cracker, possibly an agent of one of the nations actively working every day to crack into systems with the intent of disrupting operations or stealing data. One of these cloud storage companies will have a vulnerability they don't know about, and because they are storing so much data for so many corporations they will be a prime target worth throwing cracking resources at in abundance.
AFTER this event takes place, "cloud" storage will be a dead concept. It is simply too risky to entrust your critical data to a 3rd party, period.
As for "cloud" services, this is simply a rebranding of SOA; it's not anything new. Calling it "cloud" is a fad -- the name will be changed every few years to keep people thinking that something novel and groundbreaking has been created, when in fact it is nothing more than a small incremental improvement of what existed before. An exciting new name makes it easier to trick people into paying a premium for it.
Unknown to me, the lawyers who manage the firm that I am the IT guy for studied the cloud and decided that the risks were not worth the savings. This may and probably will change in the future but for now, we are going to pass on the cloud.
The law firm I work for has hired a consultant to study the cloud as a solution as well. (Evidently, they thought I was too close to the subject to be objective). They did choose to let me know that they were doing it, and in fact the consultant has picked my brain as to the firm requirements.
I am fairly certain the answer will come back the same as your firms did. "We decide to pass" Especially, since the consultant told me he didn't see this removing my role, but rather expanding it.
I think they are looking at it because they have put off upgrading hardware for several years and they now face the need to spend a lot of money in a short time.
I am fairly certain the answer will come back the same as your firms did. "We decide to pass" Especially, since the consultant told me he didn't see this removing my role, but rather expanding it.
I think they are looking at it because they have put off upgrading hardware for several years and they now face the need to spend a lot of money in a short time.
is one of the main questions when talking about cloud. Of course, you sign confidentiality agreements and all, but fact is your data is accessible by somebody outside your company. That's just an extra risk the lawyers especially dislike.
"The same goes for managing users and passwords: the responsibility is entirely on the hands of the user. If all your accounts are configured with default or weak passwords, youre running a real risk of someone invading them and stealing sensitive data."
This comment is even more true that ever in a cloud environment. You might be able to get away with an internally hosted application with default or weak passwords if you have your perimiter properly guarded. (Although it is NOT something I would EVER recommend...) You CANNOT get away with this on a cloud hosted app - you WILL be hacked.
This comment is even more true that ever in a cloud environment. You might be able to get away with an internally hosted application with default or weak passwords if you have your perimiter properly guarded. (Although it is NOT something I would EVER recommend...) You CANNOT get away with this on a cloud hosted app - you WILL be hacked.
Let's say I'm setting up my new business and need computer automation.
Well, first I get on Google Apps and set up a domain. Takes about an hour and I have email and office apps.
Then I call up a software vendor specializing in my business niche. They load an image with their software installed on aws.
Done. Where's the IT department?
Well, first I get on Google Apps and set up a domain. Takes about an hour and I have email and office apps.
Then I call up a software vendor specializing in my business niche. They load an image with their software installed on aws.
Done. Where's the IT department?
Not a one man shop, or even a five man shop.
Try a seventy person office with a need to integrate, Phone, eMail, File, Print, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Accounting, Payroll, three locations, not to mention Document Management, Document Retention, make sure you comply with HIPPA, SarbanesOxley Act, maintain a known good and working backup strategy, maintain networking infrastructure... the list goes on.
If you choose to use Google, there are many potential pitfalls and even possible legal issues, especially if you have to worry about HIPPA or SarbanesOxley. Oh, and have you ever actually tried to get support from Google?
Now tell me you don't need an IT Professional.
Try a seventy person office with a need to integrate, Phone, eMail, File, Print, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Accounting, Payroll, three locations, not to mention Document Management, Document Retention, make sure you comply with HIPPA, SarbanesOxley Act, maintain a known good and working backup strategy, maintain networking infrastructure... the list goes on.
If you choose to use Google, there are many potential pitfalls and even possible legal issues, especially if you have to worry about HIPPA or SarbanesOxley. Oh, and have you ever actually tried to get support from Google?
Now tell me you don't need an IT Professional.
like privacy information (names and addresses) and you don't mind risking not having any of it accessible due to Internet access failures.
Now, one morning you come in to work and find you and your employees can't access either Google Apps or AWS; in fact, you can't even get to the internet. You call your ISP and they say the cable or DSL modem is on line and responsive. In short, the problem is at your business and not at theirs.
Where's the IT department?
Where's the IT department?
it's your business has been effectively shutdown. That's another big issue with "the cloud". No connectivity, no cloud.
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