Corporate storage in the cloud is coming

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Despite a few of my esteemed friends worrying about the security and availability of cloud-storage I can see the writing on the wall for those views, especially as Microsoft unveils it's SkyDrive (Storage in the cloud SkyDrive is out of beta and available in 38 countries - Mauricio).

And with Microsoft not only signing up to the DataPortability Group but being an active member (Microsoft Makes Public Commitments to Data Portability and Interoperability - ReadWriteWeb) the world of the IT Department is being changed into a consumer one by the very vendors that IT Departments are looking to "save" them.

The fear from IT Departments is many fold:
  • loss of control ("when it's our environment we are the gatekeepers")
  • handing over of IP to ...who? (a business decision, not ITs)
  • inability to hold vendors to SLA
  • inability to track resources for the future
  • inability to provide augmented services
  • ...
I don't discount these fears, they are as real as a fear of spiders.
What I think needs much more communication and validation is the underlying business risks with using the "cloud as storage" ... that is a joint IT/business decision and one that needs to occur in a room of honesty and openness.

Knee jerk reactions benefit no-one.
  • a brave new world

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