Cloud may disrupt IT delivery models

Monday, September 20, 2010

As it moves beyond hype to mainstream adoption, cloud computing is reshaping many delivery models. IT organizations can see it as a chance to reinvent their businesses, or, as Bernard Golden recently wrote, they can watch as the cloud ruins an already successful business.

“As the agility, no-commitment and pay-per-use characteristics of cloud computing infuse the IT supply chain, disruption will occur everywhere,” Golden stated in a recent IDG article. Companies will need to evaluate which parts of their business creates value and which costs are no longer needed in the new mode of computing.

From channel partners working on IT projects to end-users, Golden asserts that the cloud alters the way business is approached. IT projects shrink and require fewer people, and thus, fewer billable hours. Meanwhile, end-user demand and impatience increase, spurred by notions they have heard about the lightning-fast characteristic of the cloud.

Golden stated that companies can swim and see this as an opportunity to create additional value for their business, or they can sink and disrupt an existing business.

IT organizations that don’t figure out how to adopt their business may be quickly left behind. According to a recent IDC report, the cloud will grow from a $3.8 billion market in 2010 to a $6.4 billion market in 2014.