Cloud could make you look bad

OK I saw this headline and thought here we go…

IT warned: Cloud could make you look bad

Aussie government CIOs will soon face increasing pressure to explain why in-house ICT services take so long and are so expensive to deploy compared to cloud-based services, Ovum has said.

In a research note, director Steve Hodgkinson warned the cloud "will come to be viewed as the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to source basic commodity ICT services"….

I do agree Private cloud is the way for the Commonwealth to drive efficiency but it will require some very interesting collaboration and some leadership. Of course there will be issues with connectivity among security domains (I assume there is not a recommendation for a cloud service per classification) and management of that access, perhaps it will require security clearances for MANY more Public Servants and Professional Service Providers or build the many networks with air gaps between.

My point is IT deployment in Government takes time because of Architecture, Design, Build Engineering, Testing, Deployment and Maintenance. Solutions are Integrated, Data Protection is in place, there are SLAs, Security and Access Management is in place and there is a responsibility to the Users and Executive (Departmental and Government).

So what are my examples of cloud making CIOs look bad…

• How about 72 Hours without email? and having the Vendor say “there are no SLAs (service level agreements) offered on managed exchange, POP e-mail or webmail services.”
• A cloud services vendor making data available to other customers, the week before running workshops for Government IT Managers asking for their business?

I have other reservations and these are logistical and usability issues

• What about Identity Management? We use many applications in our business and I’d like to manage all of our Identity requirements. I know if you use a username and Password pair users make them all the same which is not optimal.
• What about customisation? This moves away from the cloud providers selling space / time on a cookie cutter basis and would drive up cost.
• and of course a cloud service we use has broken features and has not been updated in several months but our cloud dream is tainted by users asking when we will have some of the issues fully resolved. Yes this is a beta and we see promise so we persist BUT not really the promise of the cloud delivering no admin worries, rapid development / deployment and worry free user experience. One of the features is the out of cloud backup so no we don’t run EVERYTHING on this service.

So for me I think Government CIO’s may look bad in Delivery and Cost but better than the OOOOPs sorry but no SLA that makes the majority of cloud offerings cheap and agile.

Can we measure with the same stick????

Give me a cloud service providing 3500 Users with Email, Document sharing, filtered Internet, reliable and timely printing plus a Finance and CRM System. And compare an on premise solution.

People need to take scale into account and service level too.

So rolling my eyes I think here we go, Cloud Services Providers are the ASP’s of this decade this is NOT a panacea and far from the brave new world those with a cloud service to sell would have you believe.

IT warned: Cloud could make you look bad - Internet - iTnews Australia