Under-the-Radar Cloud Usage Leading to ‘Cloud Sprawl’
October 19, 2011
Increasingly, groups within enterprises are using cloud-based services without the involvement of IT. This is possible because cloud solutions are typically available via a low-cost subscription or with a pay-as-you-go plan, which means that cloud computing costs start low and easily fit within group or departmental budgets. Cloud services and applications are attractive. They’re frequently described with adjectives like ‘faster’, ‘cheaper’, and ‘easier’. But, unfortunately, what may seem like a good idea today may be the source of a headache tomorrow…
Without a comprehensive strategy or formal program, random adoption of cloud services by different groups within the company can lead to something that is being called ‘cloud sprawl’ — the widespread unauthorized storage of corporate or organizational data in many remote cloud services with no one central map for where data is located. When no one group has a handle on where all the data in the company resides, there are both security and legal implications. The success of cloud services may have the side-effect of spiraling upward costs as more users join the service and more information is managed.
A study by CIO|Insight found that 60 percent of organizations are concerned problems that might arise because of ‘cloud sprawl’. And one in four say that they are not able to track what cloud services are being used within their organizations. Similarly, a report by OpsView, a company specializing in the monitoring of cloud solutions, found in the UK that tw0-thirds of businesses are very concerned about ‘cloud sprawl’. The OpsView report found that 54 percent of organizations had no idea how many cloud-based services were being used by their organization.
James Peel, product manager at Opsview, said that ”Cloud services are incredibly easy to access and can provide multiple benefits to individual users. However, by not controlling the adoption of cloud services, businesses risk spiralling costs… For example, businesses could be hit with unexpected costs as non-IT staff simply pay for services via their credit card before charging it back to the business. Ultimately unless the IT department has visibility into the cloud services being used by employees it is very difficult to keep track of what is being spent at any one time, since users are not going through traditional IT procurement channels.”
Larry Beck, senior director, cloud strategy at Avanade, said that ”Any decision to begin using cloud computing requires forethought, planning and preparation. Companies must identify their business objectives, determine which applications are prime targets for moving to the cloud, prove the business case and ensure the technology fits. The journey to cloud is an evolution that will occur over time. IT professionals should start with a clear plan, sound analysis, proven methodologies and practices, and a strong line of communication to the user community and corporate executives.”
The Opsview report also found that many organizations have policies in place around the use of internet and cloud-based services, but 76 percent of companies think that their employees are not abiding by those rules or guidelines. Many organizations that do use cloud based services also have no way to be able to validate that their cloud provider is actually satisfying the terms of the Service Level Agreement (SLA).