10 Disruptive Cloud Computing Trends

As hyped as cloud computing has been for the past couple of years, you would think that we’ve moved beyond the chaos and confusion stage. We have not. While cloud vendors and early adopters are well on their way to innovating and customizing their cloud products and initiatives, many IT buyers are having a tough time figuring out what their first move should be.

In addition to cloud confusion, such other issues as managing identities in the cloud, the conversion of cloud skeptics and cloud-driven collaboration are the disruptive forces that IT must grapple with as the cloud continues to displace on-premise systems and applications.

1. Cloud confusion is still rampant.

“The biggest complaint I hear about cloud computing from IT buyers is that it’s hard to get a clear vision of the cloud’s value proposition as a whole,” said Chris Weitz, Director of Deloitte Consulting.

Service providers and vendors are so busy debating their own narrow interests that the larger picture lacks focus. This is by no means a new thing, or one confined to the cloud, but the trouble is that the old, trusted sources of information are being displaced by information with an agenda behind it. Where do people learn about cloud computing? Too often, it’s from the cloud providers themselves.

“The result is that IT buyers must work much harder and do lots more homework to figure out important issues like interoperability and security,” Weitz added.

The old IT buying channels have been undercut by the cloud, and the new vendors, resellers and channel partners haven’t yet earned reputations as “trusted brands.”

2. But there are no cloud deniers left.

Last year at this time, Larry Ellison famously (well, infamously) went on a rant about “the nonsense” surrounding cloud computing.

To be fair, he made some good points. But, oh, how much of a difference a year makes. You hear nary a peep out of Oracle these days voicing cloud skepticism. Instead, Oracle spent most of its cloud energies in 2010 on positioning itself as a cloud provider, highlighted by its extensive, traveling cloud road show.

3. Cost calculations and timelines are big question marks.

One of the most confusing aspects of the cloud, according to Weitz, isn’t how to implement it or when to get on board, but, rather, how much it will cost and how long new cloud apps will take to deploy.

“It’s not uncommon for a CEO, based on inaccurate information, to demand a level of cost savings that isn’t feasible,” Weitz said. “Similarly, you’ll have CEOs telling IT to have a new cloud initiative up and running in a few months when IT has no idea whether or not that is doable.”

Today, it’s hard to forecast the growing pains of cloud adoption. Vendors who tell you otherwise just add to the problem.

4. Cloud security has improved greatly, but shared infrastructures translate into shared risks.

According to cloud security company of SecureAuth, security should actually drive cloud adoption, not hinder it.

“Large cloud providers, such as Amazon, Google and Salesforce.com, have many more security tools in their data-protection toolbox than you do. They have teams of dedicated security pros, data centers that can withstand natural disasters, stringent security policies and procedures and the most up-to-date security solutions. The typical enterprise has few or even none of these,” said Garret Grajek, CTO of SecureAuth.

That doesn’t mean security risks will be a thing of the past. Rather, it means they will be different than what you face today. Chances are the kind of things you worry about now, such as defending perimeters, will be the service provider’s problem. Meanwhile, you’ll have different responsibilities such as conducting risk assessments on service providers and enforcing identities and roles.