In New Delhi: Cloud Computing is likely to become a hot topic for Australian CIOs in 2011. With a number of vendors now offering onshore infrastructure and services the stage is set for increased market penetration of Cloud services, observed Ovums Research Director Kevin Noonan.
However Noonan adds a warning Beyond the hype and promises, the normal rules of business havent changed. Cloud Computings ongoing march will be relentless. However, CIOs should ensure their decision to implement cloud services in 2011 is based on a strong business case and not on the back of industry hype, if they are to avoid costly project failures.
In a new report* Ovum analyst Stephen Mann warns that CIOs who do not take the right approach to SaaS might find their application portfolio is more expensive, slower and worse than before.
Stephen Mann, Ovum analyst said, SaaS is now becoming a mainstream part of the corporate IT mix but using it for the right reasons, in the right places and in the right way within an organisation is crucial. CIOs need to establish this before embarking on an implementation project.
The report acknowledges the many benefits SaaS can deliver. In particular, a subscription-based pricing model can focus IT resources more precisely on business-critical services rather than on systems that support IT operations.. However it states that while it may give the illusion of being cheaper, faster and better, in the long-run outcomes can be more expensive, slower and worse if a strong business case is not formed.
Mann said: In our view SaaS is the biggest shift in the IT management product landscape in the last five years. There are many issues to consider and CIOs need to ensure they are on the front foot on areas such as policy guidance for employees when they take the plunge.
According to the research agency, while SaaS can be viewed as an unwelcome way for adventurous business units to short circuit the IT organization, it is also a new weapon in the CIOs arsenal of tools to meet users needs. CIOs should embrace SaaS within the enterprise IT portfolio and be on the front foot to ensure that SaaS applications are used for the right things in the right way. In many ways, SaaS is like public transport and on-premise software is like owning a car. Both are good for different journeys, but tears result when user expectations are not aligned with the characteristics of the mode of transport or unqualified drivers are at the wheel.
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