Halloween brings out a lot of scary things, from a gas light in the middle of nowhere to the smell of expired milk. For CIOs who are still waiting, that fear is the potential spook of cloud computing.
In my industry reading and conversations with the occasional industry colleague, I will run across someone who is still skeptical about cloud computing and its benefits. Though not necessarily a haunted shop of horrors, there are misnomers on the market that cause leaders to stay away and avoid cloud completely. Here are some commonly held fears:
- Spook #1: The cloud will drive my employees crazy
Change is inevitable in every industry with the upheaval caused by digital transformation. Though any technology can drive employees crazy, not adopting something as critical as the cloud could be detrimental to future business growth. That’s why it’s important for organizations to hold training events, be transparent about the direction they are going and include technology buying decisions in those conversations. - Spook #2: Cloud is Off-Premise
It used to be that the cloud was located on-premise, managed by an IT staff member. To know that it was there, all one had to do was go and take a look. The cloud on the other hand, can be off-premise and away from the watchful technology leader. While you may not be able to touch your cloud infrastructure, having your cloud off-premise means that someone else watches over, ensuring continuous uptime, maintenance, and feature upgrades. Time is saved, which means leaders can focus on growing the business instead of managing technology. - Spook #3: The Cloud is Not Secure
Speaking of security, that’s another spooky fear held by technology executives. While recent and costly data breaches do place worries in even the most resilient CIO, having an on-premise cloud implementation get compromised is even worse because that requires the hiring of external consultants and a loss of productivity. A study conducted by both Ponemon and IBM indicates that the average security breach costs $4 million of dollars (up from $3.8 million in 2015), which suggests that going with a public or off-premise private cloud might be better for both bandwidth and recoverability. - Spook #4: Cloud Migration is Overwhelming
Data-focused organizations are most likely to have this fear since the migration of data is time-consuming and overwhelming. Nonetheless, just because something is overwhelming does not exclude the possibilities of adoption. We have developed our award-winning Immersion Solution, which offers cloud migration with IBM Bluemix and also saves 40% over standard migration services. - Spook #5: I have No Cloud Strategy
As research firms IDC and Gartner continue to publish updated numbers on cloud adoption, it’s only clear that this is the future. If you haven’t started, now is the perfect time to get going with our Innovation Lab, a 10-16-week program where our consultants help you choose a solution, adopt an MVP, train your staff, and solidify a strategy for the future.
Your Turn
Do you have any other cloud fears besides the ones above? Let us know by sharing yours in the comments below.
We’ve also written a guide called Getting Started with Hybrid Cloud to facilitate the cloud adoption process. Download the guide today and explore the various use cases cloud makes possible.
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