Cloud Computing - A Dilemma

“Just like water from the tap in your kitchen, cloud computing services can be turned on or off quickly as needed. Like at the water company, there is a team of dedicated professionals making sure the service provided is safe, secure and available on a 24/7 basis. When the tap isn’t on, not only are you saving water, but you aren’t paying for resources you don’t currently need.”- Vivek Kundra, CIO in Obama administration.

Organizations around the world are bustling with the innovative trends that the IT has brought forth. Mobile data applications, Predictive Technologies and Social Networking have already made waves. But when it comes to Cloud Computing, the amount of interest it generated among technologists is second to none. As such, many corporations have instilled cloud computing in their work scenario, mainly due to its cost-cutting nature. But along with the benefits of cloud, it also brings along security concerns which may be the cardinal reason the CIOs are unwilling to take the destined plunge, reports Bob Thomas of Midsize Insider.

A survey conducted by Dimensional Research in partnership with Host Analytics, has revealed that although impending risks in adoption of Cloud, CIOs are more and more inclined towards it and is willing to undertake the risks involved on the face of its advantages.

The survey, which compiled perspectives from more than 300 CIOs and IT managers has led to the discovery of the positive attitude of technological managers towards cloud computing. Around 30 percent of the respondents proclaimed that cloud has been a distinguishing feature in their infrastructure. Although 88 percent admitted that installing cloud is fazed with challenges and which needs to be done after a careful assessment of the pros and cons. A further 67 percent were of the viewpoint that cloud enables adoption of new technologies at a much lower cost which was further attested by 62 percent of the interviewed who said that cloud played a vital role in increasing total cost of ownership for business applications.

But for midsized organizations, they are caught in a catch-22 situation. For once, they are lured by the cut in costs in the IT sector due to their limited resources. But it is the limited resources only that are hindering them from upgrading their security system. Which means any breach in security will probably be counterproductive as the adoption of cloud for them could turn out to be an expensive affair.

What is suggested for these midsized organizations is investing in BI solutions which will help them to coordinate their data in an organized fashion. Therefore, even though cloud can play a pivotal role regarding financial investment and cost savings, it is still a topic to contemplate upon as long as the security concerns associated with it are not addressed in a formidable fashion. And it all comes back to the CIOs to develop such a technology in order to welcome cloud with open arms. Rest assured, they will!

Else as Terry Woloszyn, founder and chief technical officer, PerspecSys, who voiced his concern over cloud computing  opined, “The cloud security landscape is growing ever more dangerous – SSL has been compromised, insecure technologies are introduced daily, and even more highly sophisticated attacks are directly targeting private and public cloud environments. Enterprise adoption of cloud computing is more challenging than ever.”