Changing Attitudes Towards the Cloud
Initial enterprise adoption of the Cloud was not as rapid as experts had expected. Many business leaders had concerns about the security of a system not held behind their own firewalls.
Cut to 2018 and 80% of companies are increasing their use of Cloud services. Most businesses now consider it even more secure than on-premise solutions. Gartner predicts that the shift to the Cloud will affect more than $1 trillion in IT spending by 2020. For CIOs, the challenge will be managing not only the migration to the Cloud but also the mix of Cloud vs on-premise solutions.
Cloud Benefits and Challenges
Hosting applications on the Cloud can save businesses money while increasing revenue and IT capacity. The attitude of many business leaders has shifted from avoiding the Cloud due to security concerns to fully embracing it. In fact, many CIOs are now under a lot of pressure to migrate everything to the Cloud as soon as possible.
Although the Cloud offers great security, cost savings and revenue advantages, it’s not suitable for everything. There will be applications that aren’t “Cloud-ready” or are too interconnected with legacy systems to migrate right away.
The Challenge for CIOs
CIOs will have to look at each application and decide what should be migrated, retired or left where it is. Data and visibility will be key to understanding the enterprise's unique cloud needs and requirements for each application.
CIOs will also have to resist pressure from the top to move everything when this is not always appropriate or beneficial, but work out the best course of action for every application.
Managing the Cloud vs On-Premise Dichotomy
According to Excelero 40% of IT resources are likely to reside on-premise (at least for now). Managing the Cloud vs on-premise dichotomy is going to be one of the biggest challenges for CIOs in the coming years. However, the Cloud will be hugely beneficial for companies that manage it well.