Submitted by George Telenko on April 10, 2012
Microsoft held its Hosting Summit last week in Belleview, Washington. Much of the talk was about specific cloud use cases such as hosted desktops and Software as a Service (of course with a specific focus on Microsoft applications, operating systems and cloud solutions). But in discussing those topics, there was some interesting overlap with what we frequently see in cloud infrastructure. From a service provider or systems integrator standpoint, it presents some interesting business opportunities.
Security, for one, is still a top-of-mind concern. Interestingly, many companies see little difference between physical security and cloud security — both are equally secure (or not secure depending on your personal opinion) in the minds of IT management. If service providers or systems integrators can demonstrate more security expertise than in-house staff, that is usually enough to set aside customer fears about moving to the cloud.
Also of note is the role that legacy applications play in cloud adoption. Many companies do not move to the cloud because the industry- or job-specific software they have relied on for years is not “cloud ready.” At the same time, legacy applications provide an opportunity for cloud providers and ISVs to work with their clients to either convert those applications to the cloud or provide them as part of a hosted solution. Custom-fit solutions, like private cloud, help bridge the gap between legacy applications running on purpose-built infrastructure and the benefits of cloud for today’s enterprise IT departments.
Some other thoughts, comments and observations of note from the Conference:
* Gartner analyst Gregor Petri reported that about 3% of IT spending is on cloud
* Thinking simply about the cloud: “Cloud is a way of computing…not a location”
* When it comes to cloud and cloud technologies: if you don’t build it (or resell it), someone else will
One final thought came from consultant David Chappell. “What starts as innovation becomes obligation.” Cloud is quickly moving from the new innovation that people are reading/writing/talking about to becoming a checkbox item for IT departments who are being tasked with finding ways to be more efficient with their infrastructure investments and staffing.
To continue discussing lessons and concerns related to enterprise cloud adoption, join us at CloudCamp LA on Wednesday, April 11, and at OpenStack Design Summit & Conference in San Francisco on April 16-20.
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