Really enjoyed our time with you, and appreciate you sharing your insight. Look forward to your next article on Internet Evolution! And again, congrats on the new role at Dimension Data!
Yes, Dimension Data offers framework agreements and bundles. I'll offer a shameless commercial here and highlight our architecture allows clients to integrate with APIs once and be able to light up public or private clouds using the same toolset.
And are framework agreements suitable for all businesses or only enterprises? Does Dimension Data offer them -- like a bundle, say, for want of a better word -- or do they have to be customized to each biz?
BC = Business Continuity. It extends beyond the technical ability to access apps and data. It goes in to whether people can actually use those apps and data.
I'm seeing more framework agreements. This allows IT to review the security, legal, integration capabilities of a cloud provider up front. IT can negotiate volume discounts based on usage. The business units can consume and get charged for what they consume. All within a framework IT can manage and control. This is something Dimension Data really excels at.
There was a big lift in cloud initiatives after Sandy. This has also contributed to the decrease in security focus (not that it's not a concern anymore) but clients want to talk more about BC/DR.
So under the framework, different departments can then call up the agreed-upon partner and set up their own cloud networks as/when they want (depending on their own budget, I suppose)? That makes sense. Is this something you've started to see more of recently, Mark?
The dangers of rogue clouds: Security, data integrity, regulation, backup, disaster recovery. What if a rogue cloud becomes strategic and goes Google Reader?
Rogue cloud implementations. If you define it as purchases made outside of IT, I see it all the time. It's usually business units wanting to start something fast. It's a tough challenge for IT departments. I have seen it work best when IT sets up a framework agreement with a provider and allows business units to leverage the agreement. IT becomes the sponsor and not the roadblock.
If cloud procurement is really procurement of apps, such as salesforce.com, then decentralized buying is business as usual for many companies that haven't solved that old problem yet.
Yes -- and more than that, you had R&D, for example, going out and buying a cloud service contract on a business credit card if their company didn't support cloud and/or IT took too long to approve a cloud implementation.
Allison, the groups that focus on the complexities of legal and regulations is usually a combination of multiple departments unless it is a small organization. In small organizations, it's often the IT person that gets saddled with it all. In larger organizations, it sometimes becomes a management by committee where things slow down and impede the ability to implement. It becomes legal asking IT how they will support a regulation. It's IT asking legal what technical options satisfy regulations. It sometimes becomes a circle.
This reminds me of retailers setting up Internet divisions, such as www.saks.com about ten years ago. They created separate business units for speed to market.
Kim, I'm not familiar with clud app marketplaces. how would that work? Vendors selling a full range of enterprise apps, and offering support and one-stop billing. One-stop app shopping.
There are many large IT companies that have also been successful separating thier legacy environments from new services they need to offer. Successful cloud conversions come when they are willing to separate current business processes from what needs to be achieved - leverage the cloud in new situations where it makes sense.
Here's a question based on the premise that a business isn't working with a cloud service provider that deals with this issue! Who in a company focuses on the complexities of regulations? Legal? IT?
Mark, makes sense. Starting from scratch is simpler than trying to migrate an existing infrastructure. Though not necessarily easier -- it has its own challenges.
I guess it depends, too, on what developers are doing. Today many leading devs still offer both on-premise and cloud apps -- but I think that will change.
The companies that have done a stellar job at cloud conversion are companies that have had to rapidly light up a broad web presence but haven't had the legacy apps to deal with. Game companies... Web-facing... You know the names...
Joanne, I think the growth of cloud app marketplaces is certainly likely to narrow the range of cloud apps available: but that's a slightly different point.
That's an interesting point, Mark -- about c-levels not thinking about migrating existing apps. So I guess that means they're looking ahead, not back, which really gives IT a real opportunity to save the organization a lot of money and time by revisiting inefficient older systems/approaches.
Hi Kim, most cloud providers are providing either SaaS or IaaS. I see less PaaS offerings in the market. I also see adoption coming most frequently in that order. SaaS first, IaaS second
Mark - Good point! So c-level folks aren't saying, "we need cloud." They're saying, "Should we go to Salesforce?" or "Should we go to Google Apps?" or other SaaS providers by name. And maybe not Google Apps.
Mark, does that comfort come from any changes in cloud security as a whole, or a better understanding on the customer's part of what their own security needs are in regards to the cloud?
Hi Mitch, most C-level execs think of cloud as apps like Salesforce.com and whether they can be customized for their business. They aren't thinking about migrating existing apps to the cloud as often and whether that will provide benefits.
Joanne had lots of good questions. I'm going through and trying to find them all, but here's one: How does downsizing IT come into play with Cloud conversion strategies?
Rodney, I believe clients are not dominating cloud conversations with security because they are more comfortable. This applies iwth many applications but not all. There will always be applications where security will dominate but clients are classifying more in to the 'less critical' category
Mark, @Mitch had a question that followed up on one of your points: What are C-level execs major concerns and preconceptions about cloud, before they've been educated by IT?
Alison, you mean ranking criteria for best cloud enterprises? That assumes that cost-savings is the primary benefit of cloud. But how would you measure -- to use Mark's term -- strategic agility?
Hi Rodney, having mulitple locations allows us to put data in the specific locations our clients need sometimes. That allows us to avoid some locations where data can't cross boundaries.
@aum007, re: MQ, very cynical. Great resource for businesses to validate partners ability to deliver. There is a lot of work involved in the process, proof points and capabilities. Look at it as another resource to investigate and validate
I'd be surprised if the C-suite sees a difference between private-public-hybrid. They possibly don't even know what cloud is. They just know they think they might want it. They read about it in an airline magazine. :)
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
