EveryNewIdeaHasitsFoundationSomewhereinthePast

Idon'tknow.Justtryingtounderstandwhywekeepmakingthesamemistakes...overand
over.LuisaRay,CloudAtlas,CloudAtlasProductions,2012

ThemoretheIT(informationtechnology)industryadvances,themoreittreadsoveroldground.
ItwasntquitebackinLadyLovelacesday,buttherewasatimewhenanITmanagersstatusinthe
organizationwasmeasuredbythenumberofmainframessittinginhis/herdatacenter.
Itwaspower,people,budgetintensive.
Thencameoutsourcingwiththesirensongofsavingmoney,reducingheadcount,beingmore
flexible/responsiveandsavingmoney.
Sorta,kindaworkedforawhile,butthelusterfaded.
Thingsgottoughbecausethingsgotouttacontrol,costsroseandpeoplehadtobefound/trainedto
managetherogues.
Sothehardware/softwarefolkscameupwiththeideaofgivingeveryonecontroloverthepower,
processesandtools.
Desktop/portablecomputersweregiventoeveryone.
Afterall,thedeviceswerecheap($1Mplusbigironvs.$35Ksmallunit)andsoftware/appscost
nearlynothing.
Whatcouldgowrong?
IsaacSachsadded,Youaregoingtobesorryinwaysyoucannotevenimagine.
Costsrose,support/training/guideshadtobefound,thingswereouttacontrol.
NowtheCloud
Butnirvanahasarrivedpublic/privatecloudswellsavemoney,reduceheadcountandbemore
flexible.

CloudPiecesYoumaythinkoftheCloudasonenicefluffything,butitsactuallymadeupof
alotofparts(somethinglikeagiantdatacenter)thatallhavetoworktogethersmoothlyto
handleanenterprisesworkload/workflowwhileworkinghardtoprotectthecontentfrominside
andoutsideattacks.Thebiggerthecloud,thebigger,morefrequent,moreaggressivethe
attacks.
Itstilllooks/feelslikeoutsourcingandthingsarealreadygettingouttacontrol.
NowwehavePaaS(platformasaservice),SaaS(softwareasaserviceand/orstorageasaservice),
IaaS(InfrastructureasaService).YounameitwehaveanaaSforyou.

PackagesFadeAscompanysshifttotheanywhere/anytimeuseoftheCloud,softwareis
rapidlybeingtransformedtosomethingtheITorganizationmanagesandcontrolsforsystemand
mobileappsthatareserviced/supported/managed/controlledbythecloudserviceprovider.
Thechallengeforcompaniestodayistomaintaincontrolofthewiderangingopportunitiesandsiloed
usageinthecloud.
Departments,workgroupsandindividualsaretakingadvantageoflowcost,easytousepubliccloud
services.Few(veryfew)thinkabouthowtheuseoftheircloudservicewillimpact/exposethe
companyaslongastheycangettheirworkdoneandmeettheirobjectives.
Cloudcomputingdefinitionsarestillaworkinprogressanddependonwhatyoureoffering,what
yourelookingfor.
Theonethingmostagreeonthoughisyoucanstore,manipulate,retrieveandshareinformation
fromnearlyanywhereviatheiNet.
Andnowthateveryoneintheorganizationisusinghis/herowndevicesmartphone,tablet,laptop
ignoringornotusingthecloudisntanoption!
Weallusethecloudtosendemail,videoconference,printfrommobiledevices,store
personal/workinprogress/collaborativedata,exchangemedicalinformation,bank,shareon
socialnetworksandmore.
CautiousApproach
WhileITexecutivesarecautiouswiththecloudproducts/services,businessesarethebiggest
adaptors.
TheyagreedwithIsaacSachs,Yesterday,IbelievedthatIwouldneverhavedonewhatIdid
today.
Publicsectororganizationsarebeingforcedtothecloudbecausegettinggreatpeoplethatare
affordableisdifficulttodo.
Gartnerpredictsthattheworldwiderevenuefrompublicclouds(sharedusage)willsoarfrom
$105.7billionin2013to$206.6billionin2016.
Softwaresales(O.K.,licensing)aredecreasingsignificantly.

DifferentAppealsWhileenterprisemanagersareattractedtothepromiseofcostsavings,a
moreagileandefficientorganizationITmanagementstruggleswithcontrolling/managingcosts
andmoreimportantly,vitalcorporateinformation,whichismorevulnerabletointernal/external
attackandlossintheCloud.
Eightypercentoflargefirmshave,areplanningorexecutingprogramstousethecloudfor
criticalapplications.
Executivespredictthat70to75percentoftheirapplicationswillbehostedincloudenvironments
thatwillenablesavingsof30to40percentcomparedwithcurrentplatforms.
Whetherthey(you)believeitornot,mostsaythecloudcanmaketheirentireorganizationmore
agileandresponsive.Butthatdoesntmeantheyresleepingwellatnightwiththeprospectsor
decisiontomovetothecloud.
DataLoss
Earlierthisyear,aCIOreportsaid43percentofthefolkshadlostdatainthecloudand75
percentfelttheywouldlosedatabecauseofacyberattack.
CloudyDangersITmanagementseesthebenefitsandopportunitiesofoperatingintheCloud
buttheyarealsoawareofawidearrayofunansweredquestionsandchallengesinmovingtheir
organizationtoCloudservices.
IntelssurveyofITprosshowed46percenthadsufferedfromasecuritybreachinthecloud
significantlymorebreachesthanintheirowndatacenters.
Withthegrowingpossibility(probability)ofgovernmentagenciesmonitoring/miningclouddata,
mostITprosreallydontseeafriendlycloudunlesstheypracticeindepthencryptionorprivate
cloudimplementation.
Mostcompanyexecutivesmistakenlybelievethatthecloudproviderwilltakecareofkeepingthe
badguys/galsatbay.
Cloudfolksprovideadecentarrayofsecurityoptions.Theytalkalotabouttheirsecurityand
offercustomersexperiencedadvicebutreadthefineprintofthecontractandtheyhavemore
escapeclausesthanascreendoor.
CloudserviceslikeglobegirdingAWS(AmazonWebServices),Google,Microsoft,IBMand
hundredsofothersaregettingbetteratrespondingtoandhandlingcyberattacks,butstillstuff
willgetlost.

Or,asHaskellMooresaid,Thereisanaturalordertothisworld,andthosewhotrytoupendit
donotfarewell.
Still,there'sverylittletostoptherushtothepubliccloud.
Executiveslookskywardandscanthehorizonsandseefewerreasonstoinvesttime,money,effortin
buildingoutandmaintainingtheirowninfrastructureanddatacenterwhentheserviceecosystemjust
getsricherandricher.
AtSalesforcesDreamforce,CEOMarcBenioffunveiledwhathesaidwasasolutionecosystemthat
companieswontoutgrowandwillonlygetbetterandbetterwitheachnewapptheyaddtotheir
arsenal.
iNetofThings
WhiletheywontsteponCiscos50billiondeviceandcountingInternetofThings,Salesforcehas
certainlyreimageditselftoplayheavilyinthecloudandallitsactivities.

EndlessCircleWiththeincreasingabilitytocapturedata/informationfrommorethings,
organizationsaccumulatemoreandmoredatathatcanbeusefultotheorganization.
CommitmenttothecloudallowsITmanagementtoquicklyaddorreduceinfrastructureand
storage.However,itisbecomingincreasinglycomplexasdata/contentisaccumulated,moved
andusedthroughouttheorganization.
Amazonmayhavethetrackrecordfordaytodaycustomerexperienceandsupport,butSalesforce
hasabroaderviewofCRM(customerrelationsmanagement).
Companiesaregoingtoneedbothviewstosurvivethefuture.
ThatsprobablywhySalesforcerepositioneditselffrombeingapackagedsolutiontoaworking
platformprovider.
Itsaninterestingshiftthatoffersindustryspecificappsaswellasbroadermobileapps/servicesthatcan
beusedtomeetacustomersmarketing,sales,serviceandsupportneedsandmore.
Whethertheapproachmakesacompanysdataanymoreavailableoranymoresecuredependson
howquickly,easily,seamlesslyeverythingeverywherecanbechanged.
Andatwhatcost.
AsIsaacSachssaid,BeliefisaforcetobeunderstoodasweunderstandtheTheoryofRelativity
andPrinciplesofUncertainty.
Timewilltell.