Many people have been skeptical about the move to cloud computing, especially in the database world. There are valid reasons to worry about security, legal issues, and more. I certainly think that using cloud services requires some planning and careful examination of the impact to your environment, but I also think that many companies will want to make the move, so it pays to learn more about cloud computing and be prepared with realistic, rational concerns from the database perspective.
Anthony Skipper of ServiceMesh gave a presentation on some of the problems and lessons learned from moving to cloud computing. It was picked up in an Information Week piece that summarizes some of the areas that can cause problems for your company. The list of issues is a good one, and worth reading through.
There are a couple of items in the list that I thought were very interesting for data professionals. The first was the fact that companies need to ensure that they implement policy from the beginning for how cloud services will be used. I think this will always be a point of contention between IT and the clients, and this isn't an excuse to lock down clients or limit their options. Instead it ought to be a place where IT looks to be informed, help with guidance, and respond more quickly to client requests. IT cannot be the stumbling block in the cloud, or it will get left behind.
The other thing? This quote: Have the ability to bring things back internally or to another provider at any point. That's a great point. The cloud isn't the ultimate answer, and you ought to have a backup plan, which should include the ability to move your services back to your own data center.
Steve Jones
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