CloudFucius Closes This Cloud Canon

Well, this is the 27th entry (26 not counting the intro) in the CloudFucius Series and what an interesting ride! What started out as a cloud version of the 26 Short Topics about Security series, soon turned into an exploration of the numerous cloud computing surveys, reports, statistics and other feelings about the technology. I also intended to investigate areas of cloud computing that I was not so familiar with and there were a few areas that I was able to dig further – like Radio and the NFL. Readers really seemed to like the ‘CloudFucius’ notion and while this is the last of this series, CloudFucius is not retired. We’ll bring him back from time to time to help decipher some of those cloud surveys. Another interesting tid-bit is that a few weeks into the series, someone from the Pacific Northwest actually created a twitter handle @cloudfucius. It wasn’t me but I had great interest in that, as you can imagine. I tried contacting them several times and then within the last week or so, the account disappeared. If you are out there, give me a shout!! Lastly, I included a real Confucius quote in each entry since his words seem to resonate when it comes to cloud computing.

What did I learn? While I would notice various cloud surveys during my weekly perusal of the internet, I didn’t realize that there are/were so many, so frequently. Some weeks, literally 4-5 surveys would be released covering some aspect of cloud computing – adoption, budget, compliance, deployment, effectiveness, fears, guests, hijacking, insiders, justification, PKI, litigation, management, networks, open standards, public vs. private, questions, reliability, social media, IPv6, user experience, virtualization, gaming, control, vendors and security just to name 26. Security is cited as the biggest hurdle in almost 90% of the surveys but I also found that availability, control and a general lack of understanding are also drivers in challenges to cloud adoption. I also wondered if ‘security’ is the real culprit or are IT professionals just answering with that to keep the assets in-house and under their control. I bet a little of both. The ease of shoving stuff to the cloud has made anyone with a office cube an instant IT administrator. That has brought challenges too. Those who have touched the clouds, clearly see and recognize the benefits and continue to move more assets to the cloud. Those who haven’t, are hesitant or risk averse. And then there’s the group who are either testing or investigating ways to take advantage of the flexibility, scalability, cost savings and agility.

This final entry wouldn’t be complete without some reporting on the most recent cloud surveys. Hubspan reported that 64% said that 'moving to the cloud for applications, infrastructure, integration and other solutions is a strategic direction for their organization and department.' Main reasons for not moving to the cloud are lack of understanding the benefits and IT having their own way of doing things. Finally some honesty.

CA Technologies recently found in their Mainframe - The Ultimate Cloud Platform? survey that '79% of IT organizations consider the mainframe to be an essential component of their cloud computing strategy.' The kicker is that they are having trouble finding and retaining skilled mainframe professionals. 44% of surveyed companies said they are "grappling" with staffing issues to manage and maintain their production systems.

A new TechTarget survey of more than 800 IT pros found that SMBs are not convinced that Private Clouds are beneficial. Virtualization Decisions 2010 survey shows that while large organizations might be building and experimenting with cloud technologies, almost two-thirds said they have no plans to try the private cloud model. They have enough to do and with smaller budgets, they don’t have the luxury of experimenting with new technologies. Also, unlike most surveys, security was not the major barrier. The number 1 reason was that they really didn't need a couple key components – metered usage and department chargeback – 35% said so. Complexity and skilled staff also keep them from adopting.

And just to magnify the TechTarget survey, a new Harris Interactive poll of more than 200 IT pros at large enterprises indicates a 'much broader adoption of cloud computing, and shows accelerating momentum behind developing private cloud infrastructures.' 89% said that private clouds are the next logical step for organizations already implementing virtualization. With this one, we’re also back to citing Security as the main barrier – 91% are concerned about security issues in the public cloud, with 50 percent indicating security as the primary barrier to implementation.

So the survey results are in and more will arrive this week, next week, next month and into the foreseeable future as long as there are questions surrounding the cloud. I do think I covered a good portion of the survey data available over the last couple months so if you need to research cloud statistics or if you missed any CloudFucius columns, here they are in order:

The CloudFucius Series