In a troubled economy, cloud computing seems like a great cost saving alternative and it is. Whether in good times or bad, any pragmatic cost saving measure is a ‘good’ measure.
ISACA’s 2010 survey on cloud computing adoption presents some interesting findings. Forty five percent of IT professionals think the risks far outweigh the benefits and only 10 percent of those surveyed said they’d consider moving mission critical applications to the cloud. In a nutshell, ISACA’s statistics and other industry published numbers around cloud adoption indicate that cloud computing is a mainstream choice but definitely not the primary choice.
Cloud computing is relatively new in its current form, given that, it is best applied to specific low to medium risk business areas. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, and if necessary, engage an independent consulting company to guide you through the process. Picking a cloud provider requires far more due diligence than routine IT procurement. At this stage there is no clear cut template for success. The rewards can be tremendous if the risks are well managed.