The cloud tiptoes in
October 16, 2012
Grazed from The Star Tribune. Author: Steve Alexander.
Cloud computing — using remote data centers over the Internet instead of buying computers — has been quietly creeping into companies under the noses of corporate executives. Departments are using it without permission by putting it on company charge cards, and employees widely use some common cloud applications such as Google Docs or Salesforce.com, said Bill Martorelli, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.
"Corporations really need to reconcile themselves to cloud computing," said Martorelli, who will be the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Enterprise Cloud Summit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts that’s sponsored by Wisconsin-based TDS Telecommunications. "But they also have to find the balance between empowerment of employees and corporate control."…
Surprisingly, the most attractive thing about cloud computing isn’t cost savings, which have been widely predicted but often don’t materialize, Martorelli said. Instead, cloud computing is a way for midsized companies to be nimble. Entering a credit card number online can instantly turn on a full-scale remote computer center as if one were flipping a light switch, he said…
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