In cloud the watchword is 'trust but verify' but 'verification is very difficult', says insurer

Cloud computing has 'massive problems', warns Collegiate IT manager Michael Dear, but many organisations are using the cloud effectively

Cloud computing has "massive problems" and, while it has a place in some enterprises, Collegiate Management Services IT manager Michael Dear says he is "deeply suspicious of ‘going to the cloud' for the sake of it".

Collegiate is a professional indemnity insurance provider.

In an interview with Computing, Dear, one of the judges at the upcoming Computing Cloud Excellence Awards on Wednesday 19^th September at The Waldorf Hilton in London, said that he regarded cloud computing as "someone else's computer", partly because he comes from a security background - which means he doesn't automatically trust anyone.

"It does have its place in, for example, highly elastic loads like public-facing services, where I can understand it. However, there are massive problems with cloud as you are reliant on someone else and, ultimately, you only have a contract to rely on if it goes wrong," Dear told Computing.

He suggested that the compensation for downtime typically written into cloud contracts would rarely cover the cost of the outage to users.

"So you have to trust that they are doing as they say they are doing. Trust and security are very related and I always go with the [former US president] Ronald Reagan quote ‘Trust but verify', and verifying is very difficult," he said.

However, Dear believes that it is important to recognise those enterprises that are using cloud both effectively and securely.

"Innovation is always difficult, and if you can showcase people and organisations that are doing something useful and helpful then it is to be applauded; it also highlights to a wider audience those interesting and useful projects," he said.

Computing's Cloud Excellence Awards 2018 aims to recognise the very best of the cloud industry. The shortlist for the awards has been announced and there is still time to book a table for the event by clicking on this link.

The Cloud Excellence Awards 2018 will be hosted the same day as Computing's Cloud & Infrastructure Summit Live. See below for details.

Computing's Cloud & Infrastructure Summit Live returns on Wednesday 19 September, featuring panel discussions with end-users, strategic and technical streams and a session with guest speaker Inma Martinez. The event is FREE to qualifying IT leaders and senior IT pros, but places are going fast. Register now!