Does the cloud even exist?

As an IT leader, how often have you heard “move it to the cloud” in response to mounting pressures to reduce operational costs and increase delivery speed?   Having grown up in an operational IT role, I’m willing to bet you’ve heard that said hundreds of times by now. Here’s my recommendation: The next time you’re asked this question, respond with something cheeky like, “Which one?” After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, break the tension with a more constructive discussion on the merits of using “a cloud” in lieu of “the cloud.”  Here’s why:

 

“The cloud” is increasingly used as a panacea for nearly all ills associated with legacy computing (as well as legacy IT outsourcing): too expensive, too slow, too complicated. The problem with this approach is that it fails to take into account the nuances inherent in a massive and complex ecosystem with very little standardization…

Depending on the cloud that buyers choose, the services they’ll receive are a combination of outsourcing and insourcing, with some traditional software procurement mixed in. Either way, it will likely look very different from traditional on-premises IT or traditional ITO…

Read more from the source @ http://www.computerworld.com/article/2939719/cloud-computing/does-the-cloud-even-exist.html