Case studies needed to overcome cloud concerns

Cisco CTO believes businesses need more positive use-case examples

Slowly, more businesses are adopting the cloud, but while it's likely this model will increasingly be the norm in future, there are many who remain unconvinced. What lies behind this continued scepticism? And how can cloud providers ensure that valid concerns are addressed?

Cisco UK and Ireland CTO Ian Foddering believes that actual case studies of the technology are needed to encourage adoption, demonstrating real-world benefits of cloud.

"If we a take a step back to 12 months ago there was a lot of talk about cloud, but not necessarily real use-case examples that were pertinent to a particular organisation to say ‘this is how cloud can work for you'," Foddering told Computing.

"But what we're seeing now is a maturing of the market. We're seeing organisations [cloud providers] putting together actual use-case examples they are taking to individual organisations and saying ‘this is how cloud can help you in your business'."

Certainly, use cases that contain representative costs would be a help. While the upfront costs of cloud services are generally low, the total cost of ownership (TCO) remains uncertain. Cloud providers tend not to be transparent about the costs of using their business services, and there have been complaints of hidden charges that have, in some cases, negated any anticipated cost savings from moving IT off-site. What is needed is accessible, reliable information about what the service will cost in the months and years ahead.

In terms of the benefits offered by the cloud model, a recent survey by Computing suggests that flexibility is seen as the key positive, mentioned by over half of the 220 respondents, while 48 per cent cited the ability to access information from a variety of devices. Overall, 54 per cent of IT professionals surveyed believe cloud is positive for their organisation against just 14 per cent who felt it to be negative.

Figure: What do you think are the positive impacts of cloud computing for your organisation?

[Click image to enlarge]

Case studies needed to overcome cloud concerns

Cisco CTO believes businesses need more positive use-case examples

Cisco's Foddering believes the flexibility and device-agnostic accessibility to data and applications offered by the cloud are key to the way that business IT is developing.

"For me, BYOD [bring your own device] really is just the start and I think if we really want to take advantage of BYOD it does require us to have a bit more joined up thinking in terms of that naturally leading into a conversation around – for example – business intelligence. You're getting more and more of these smart devices – phones, tablets, whatever – and the key benefit they offer is their flexibility and ease of use, but they are somewhat limited when it comes to processing power."

"So, if we're going to take them to the next stage and get that additional level of benefit – having that ability to connect to a cloud-based service, utilise that central computer capability and then deliver it over a secure connection to those BYOD devices – then for me that's where the two are very closely interlinked."

While cloud brings flexibility to businesses, there's a major implication to consider alongside it – security. The very nature of storing and processing information in the cloud is that, with the exception of large organisations with their own private cloud setup, it involves handing over potentially sensitive data to a third party. In a recent survey by Intel, 99 per cent of IT managers said that security considerations play a very strong role when choosing a cloud service provider.

And rightly so. Public cloud providers see their services accessed by thousands of users across the world, potentially leaving them open to malware or hacking attacks from anywhere on Earth. Not only could an attack on a third-party cloud provider leave businesses without access to their data, there's the possibility of a hack accessing, removing, stealing or corrupting that data. Indeed, last year's PlayStation Network hack saw data accessed through Amazon's public cloud server being used to launch the attack, with users' personal details stolen while Sony turned the system off for 23 days preventing users from accessing online services.

The fear of a security breach, however, is almost certainly greater than the actual risk of such an event occurring. For smaller businesses especially the cloud is likely to improve security, as the provider will be using more up-to-date hardware and fully patched software over and above what the customer will have on site. Foddering believes more businesses need to put aside their pre-perceived concerns about security and embrace what the cloud has to offer.

"I appreciate that there are still people out there that have question marks about security, particularly when it comes to cloud, and that will be an ongoing conversation for organisations to address," he said.

"For some, and for some data, they won't want to put it into a cloud whether its public or private, they'll want to treat it in a different way. That's understandable, but I think there is a lot of information that can be within a cloud environment put into a secure solution."

Case studies needed to overcome cloud concerns

Cisco CTO believes businesses need more positive use-case examples

But as with everything in the cloud, there are certain risks. Any business that shifts data over to a third-party service can find that at times, they won't have access to it, with a recent survey by Computing indicating that two-thirds say this is one of their primary outsourcing concerns.

June saw a lightning storm in Virginia taking out part of Amazon's cloud computing service. Major websites including Netflix, Pinterest and Instagram were inaccessible for hours before the cloud service was restored. It's entirely possible to think if access to data cannot be guaranteed, even by an enormous organisation like Amazon, then who is there to trust with storing it? That might be perceived as taking scepticism of cloud a little too far, but if vital data is stored in the cloud, a freak accident or hack taking out the main servers could leave organisations in the lurch. Foddering told Computing that he believes that cloud providers and their clients both need to ensure that such eventualities are planned for and that plans are kept under review.

"The challenge is always there; you always have individuals and groups who are looking to gain access to data and it's reliant on organisations to ensure that they're taking a very, very proactive stance in terms of their security and recognising that best practice will be continually evolving and they need to be evolving and leading that evolution of the best practice when it comes to security."

Security remains the key negative of cloud, according to our survey, with 46 per cent unconvinced that data stored on the cloud is secure, while 43 per cent have concerns about the availability of the service should connectivity fail.

Figure: What do you think are the negative impacts of cloud computing for your organisation?

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It's concerns like these, held by a significant minority of decison makers, that providers will need to address before use of the cloud is taken to the next stage.

Call for case studies

If you are a user or a provider of cloud services and would like to share your experiences, please contact the author.