Innovation:
Does the Cloud Pay Off?
According to an article from Information Week the cloud may
or may not pay off for all companies.
This is a question that many IT executives across the world are
currently asking themselves daily.
Cloud computing is the latest IT buzz word and something
that is changing the IT world. IT execs
over the last 2-3 years have spent time reducing the number of servers they
have through a technology called virtualization. Virtualization allows you to take one
physical server and run multiple virtual servers on it. Companies have been able to reduce the number
of physical server s they manage by as much at a ratio of 1-to-35.
(Babcock,2012). Virtualization technology has reduced energy, hardware, and
datacenter costs. With virtualization technology
use at its peak we are now seeing cloud computing start to grow. Cloud
Computing involves not only placing your company network into the cloud but can
also involve using software applications on the web which is known as Software
as a Service(SAAS).
Cloud computing costs are something that IT Execs are having
a hard time trying to figure out if these costs are less expensive. The companies that are providing the cloud
computing and SAAS infrastructures have pricing structures that make it very
difficult to be able to compare to their current enterprise environment. One challenge many organization are facing it
they not able to go 100% into the cloud with their entire IT infrastructure
then they still need the full IT staff so there are not able to save any money
in IT labor costs. Cloud computing
prices have been dropping and I feel we are still close to a feasible price
range to draw in more organizations to cloud computing.
There are several implications of cloud computing. As more and more organizations move to cloud
computing it will push the current high cost down due to the companies that
offer these services are able to fully utilize its entire developed IT hardware
infrastructure. As companies migrate
more of its IT infrastructure to the cloud they will eventually have a need to
reduce the size of its IT staff. Cloud computing growth will also increase
datacenter growth due to companies no longer managing their IT infrastructure
at their offices.
I believe cloud computing for medium to large organization
is still too expensive but I do see this changing in the next 2-5 years. For small companies that have little or no IT
staff, cloud computing is inexpensive but gives them all of the IT technologies
that are normally only available to medium to large organizations.
Sources:
Babcock,
Charles. “Does the Cloud Pay Off” Information
Week. June 12,2012. Web. June 12,
2012. <http://informationweek.com/1336/cloud>
Joel,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog and article about cloud computing. I believe it is one of the many questionable new technologies that we have for consumer and commercial use. It is a new technology that comes with several risks that may outweigh the benefits to some. Those risks involve identity theft from hackers, breach into personal information, and the requirement to trust an outside company to manage your data. I do agree it is also quite expensive for companies to do the switch. For commercial use, I believe cloud computing may not be the best technology to manage data, but I do believe cloud computing is a smart idea for managing someones music and video library.
I found this article very interesting because It made me aware of new technology. I agree with Michelle's opinion about the effectiveness and risks involving any new invention. However,It can always be improved as more people finds it useful.
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