CIOopinion
CIO OPINION
services that stand out from commoditised
rivals and can command a premium price.
Cost. With future revenues so uncertain
for many companies, managing costs is
hugely important. Cloud services usually
have subscription-based, utility-like model so
prices rise and fall depending on usage. This
ensures value and means there is little risk of
‘bill shock’.
Security. Firms need to ensure that with
so many more remote workers they have
the security protections and policies in
place to defend against attackers. Although
security has traditionally been a concern
or an objection to public cloud adoption,
cloud services have an advantage in that
they tend to be run via highly proficient
data centres with more security skills on
tap than enterprises can afford. However,
firms will still need to educate staff against
“
CLOUD IS
ALREADY BIG, BUT
IT’S ABOUT TO
GET BIGGER.
phishing and similar scams and ensure that
tools such as VPNs and encrypted networks
are available.
Choice. Some firms will be understandably
concerned about potentially being locked
into a single dominant provider than can
then have too much control over customer
options. However, the intense competition
and price cutting among the biggest
providers mean that companies that build
out using a multi-cloud model will retain the
openness they cherish.
Testing. Many companies will still need to
be able to test new and reworked processes
during and after the crisis. Cloud platforms
provide the testbeds to enable this, without
high cost penalties or risks being incurred.
Hiring. When the economy bounces
back, hiring will again become a critical
battleground and companies that aren’t
heavy cloud users will become less attractive
to younger candidates especially.
As I outlined at the outset, there’s no such
thing as an overnight hit in IT but look out
for cloud-related opportunities for both
short-term benefits and for future strategic
importance. Cloud is already big, but it’s
about to get bigger. •
46 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com