The impact of Cloud on IT

By Andrew Buss and Dale Vile

KEY POINTS

Cloud is complementary to existing IT infrastructure and service delivery concepts

As Cloud services gather momentum, investment in internal IT infrastructure is continuing, and even
accelerating. More extensive use of virtualisation and the move to better management is helping
traditional IT become more efficient, responsive and reliable, essentially taking on many of the
attributes of Cloud. Few are contemplating a wholesale move into the Cloud, with the result that
when Cloud is adopted it needs to integrate and interoperate with the existing IT infrastructure.

External Cloud services will co-exist with existing third party services in the market

Traditional third party services – hosted infrastructure, managed services and other forms of
outsourcing – are used widely today. While these will remain relevant for the foreseeable future, the
adoption of Cloud services will displace a proportion of this activity. Traditional hosting and
managed services providers are already starting to work Cloud options into their service portfolios,
and the market will increasingly be defined by players who adopt an inclusive approach.

Cloud will change the skills required to deliver IT services

The adoption of Cloud further drives the emphasis of IT delivery from managing individual pieces of
technology to focusing on the service actually provided to the business, however that is achieved.
This reinforces the ongoing trend towards adopting an end-to-end service delivery approach. From
an IT skills perspective, this increases the demand for IT professionals that are comfortable working
across traditional operational silos and domains of expertise. The key to managing IT performance
will increasingly be insight into how internal components and external services work together.

Cloud may make life easier in some areas, but also creates challenges elsewhere

Although Cloud is often sold on the basis that it offers a simpler way to deliver IT services, it is not a
magic silver bullet. Cloud creates a number of challenges of its own on the way, and these are
accentuated when it’s put together with traditional IT. Improvements in provisioning and operating
services are countered by the challenges of implementing security and information management
across in-house and (often multiple) service provider environments, and making sure the network
communications are up to the task.

Without integration, Cloud is more plug-and-pray than plug-and -play

For many, the attraction of Cloud services is the ability to select a service, pay for it and get going.
This may work for a limited deployment of Cloud, particularly for small-scale rollouts or where the
applications are mainly stand-alone and independent. Once Cloud becomes a core part of the
business then architectural challenges arise that need time, planning and investment to solve. This
negates the “easy on ramp” advantage claimed for Cloud over traditional IT applications and
services, and essentially places Cloud on a level footing with the rest of IT.

Content Contributors: Andrew Buss & Dale Vile

Dale Vile

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Dale is a co-founder of Freeform Dynamics, and today runs the company. As part of this, he oversees the organisation’s industry coverage and research agenda, which tracks technology trends and developments, along with IT-related buying behaviour among mainstream enterprises, SMBs and public sector organisations.