Educating you on the benefits and "how to" of integrating cloud computing with your business network.

Wall Street news recently has been full of M&A activity among tech firms large and small as the impact of cloud computing has become evident.  HP and Dell are in a bidding war for cloud computing firm 3Par.  CA Technologies today announced a $200 acquisition of cloud computing firm Arcot Systems, bringing their June 2009-to-present spending spree to a billion dollars and change.

But what does that mean on Main Street?  Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are implementing cloud computing in significant numbers.  While some are opting for an “all-in” approach, other SMBs are looking at various “hybrid” options.

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While the article cites some cases in which SMBs are opting to keep a portion of their IT assets in-house, a strong case can be made for a “hybrid” or “local” cloud computing approach that benefits from the cost efficiencies of owning few – if any – IT assets and partnering with a trusted IT provider that owns, manages and maintains the SMB’s IT assets behind their own firewall.

Or so says a recent article in Business News Daily.  Close to 4 out of 10 businesses with fewer than 20 employees use cloud computing solutions or plan to in the next 6 months.

Cloud computing provides firms the flexibility and economic advantages of storing data, accessing software applications, even hosting entire network infrastructures, without purchasing or maintaining the necessary software and hardware.  Costs stay lower – an important benefit for cash-strapped small businesses or simply those wishing to reduce operational costs in the current economy.

This finding was part of a global survey of 1500 IT professionals at small- and medium-sized businesses.

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“Cloud computing will surpass the Internet in importance,” Georgetown University professor Mike Nelson told attendees of the World Future Society conference in Boston earlier this month.

Cloud computing will level the playing field for those with or without financial resources.  According to Nelson, cloud computing will allow developing nations to access resources once only available to affluent countries.  Similarly, small businesses will save money and capital expenditures by tapping cloud-based services and platforms – tapping resources previously monopolized by enterprise-level business.

The growing popularity of the Cloud is evident, as several recent surveys have pointed out.  The Pew Internet and American Life Project reports in their May 2010 survey update that 66% of people responding indicated they regularly use cloud computing, up from 10% in 2000, when the Project conducted its first survey on the subject.

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Microsoft’s Jim DuBois calls cloud computing a “once-in-a-20-year inflection point” for the IT industry – one that will fundamentally change IT and IT management.

Spurred by flexible architecture and scalability, cloud computing gives IT professionals capabilities to respond as never before to changing business demands.

Yet IT professionals will face challenges, reports the Australian’s Ian Grayson.  The cloud’s enticing prospects create management challenges for IT professionals who must keep their cloud-based architecture – and the potential for “server sprawl” – under control.  In fact, many industry experts say IT management will become key to organizations’ successful adoption of cloud computing.

The shift to the cloud seems inevitable for most companies.  It will greatly change the nature of how we “do” IT in the future and, points out Grayson, will necessitate “re-tooling” skill sets for many IT professionals.

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Whether they realize it or not, a growing number of CIOs are relying on cloud computing.  In a recently published survey, nearly 60% of European CIOs reported using specific cloud computing services, although many didn’t understand that they were, in fact, using the Cloud.

To wit: half of these same surveyed CIOs reported they are not using cloud services and a third say they have no plans to use cloud services in the next five years.

How can IT professionals not know they’re using the Cloud?  It seems the Cloud is more confusing to define and understand than we thought.

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http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060710-tech-argument-cloud-computing.html