The issue of success or failure in moving your company data, IT storage,
servers or software to the cloud is often driven by technical issues,
including performance, bandwidth, security and total-cost-of-ownership (TCO)
considerations. While many of these factors are key criteria for selecting
cloud solutions, they usually don’t align with the bigger picture that
C-level executives must consider when adding new IT solutions.
How IT can help sustain or create a competitive advantage has never been more
apparent than today through the use of cloud computing. This technology
boasts benefits such as reduced costs and scalability, just to name a few,
but many companies fail to find the right fit for cloud within their
business. [Disclosure: The Open Group is a sponsor of BriefingsDirect
podcasts.]
This is because cloud computing is not one size fits all. Performance,
net... (more)
[Editorial Note: The author will be presenting at Cloud Expo New York (June
6-9, 2011), where his session is entitled "Monetization Strategies for Cloud
Computing Services" and his co-presenter will be Penelope Everall Gordon of
of 1Plug Corporation.]
As the hot, new "trend of the moment" in technology, cloud computing is
touted to be a transformative way to provide computing resources faster and
more efficiently through shared infrastructures. Due to the considerable hype
surrounding the Cloud, organizations considering cloud as an option will need
to begin seeing that this new ... (more)
I recently looked back at some significant papers that had influenced my
thinking on cloud computing as part of a review on current strategic trends.
In February 2009, a paper published at the University of California,
Berkeley, “Above the Clouds: A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing," stands
out as the first of many papers to drive out the issues around the promise of
cloud computing and technology barriers to achieving secure elastic service.
The key issue unfolding at that time was the transfer of risk that resulted
from moving to a cloud environment and the obstacles to security... (more)
A number of interesting issues have come to light in the recent announcement
of Google+ intention to move into social networking in direct competition
with Facebook.
"Getting It"
It may be that Google finally "gets it" with the idea of "circles" and
"sparks" as a way of understanding social network segmentation that is
superior to Facebook. Specifically the ability to segment different
friendship groups into separate conversations is not just a grouping of
relationship data but a fundamental "wakeup call" that this is how virtual
communities actually work. It's often been surpri... (more)
Mark Skilton is a Director at Capgemini, Strategy, Global Infrastructure Services. He is also the Co-Chair of The Cloud Computing Work Group, The Open Group, an International Standards Body. He has published papers on Cloud Computing business metrics through The Open Group and has spoken at numerous leading international conferences on cloud computing business models. He co-founded SyntheticSpheres.com with Vladimir Baranek, a foundation for next generation business strategies. The views expressed in this article are his own and not of his past, current or future employers. Contact him at mrskilton@gmail.com. 
Sue Poremba
Scott Sellers
Anthony Franco
Daniel Morris
Wayne Walls
Niki Acosta
Jereme Hancock
Oren Michels
Marvin Wheeler
Douglas Kim
