Whether to transition an organisation to cloud based SaaS platforms and if so which provider/s to chose is a question on the mind of many CIO’s. Operationally there should be a checklist of common cloud transition issues that is addressed first.
However in the bigger picture how many of these CIO’s are thinking beyond the obvious short term benefits like shifting spending from capex to opex, to the longer term organisational implications of what is gained and lost by choosing cloud services?
For example changes in patterns of expenditure is one area that is sometimes forgotten when considering cloud based solutions. Inhouse spending on IT infrastructure and staff is an area CIO’s and CFO’s are used to keeping track of.
However usage of cloud services is more abstract, extra costs will be borne by the organisation during any transitional period and service/subscription based charges based on the level of usage can result in unexpected issues eg: running out of monthly API calls during peak periods when many staff are generating reports from the CRM.
Even providers of cloud services are reconsidering what they offer, with AWS recently moving up the value chain by launching a marketplace of applications including offerings from CeBIT exhibitors CA Technologies and IBM.
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