Five unique perspectives on the shift to cloud computing

Welcome to another round of featured news items from around the web. Each week, we handpick articles for our community related to cloud and enterprise technology. We welcome your suggestions for next week’s round-up—share your links in the comments section.

This week, we explore five unique takes on the shift to cloud computing, with topics ranging from the changing role of the CIO to the case for hybrid cloud solutions. Plus, we survey how, why and when companies are moving infrastructure to the cloud--and how organizations can realize immediate benefits.  

CIO Study Shows Shifting Priorities and Cloud Emphasis

In just two years, the number of organizations seeking cloud-based solutions has doubled. This and other findings from IBM’s 2011 CIO Study suggest a changing role for the CIO.

How to Incrementally Embrace Public Cloud Computing

Instead of investing in IT infrastructure to support peak applications loads, cloud computing providers are making the case that IT organizations should invest in just enough IT equipment to support their average loads. Spikes in application workload requirements would then be handled by cloud computing providers that would instantly make additional capacity on demand.

Taking the Pulse of the Cloud

Analysts, pundits and investors have all been trying to measure cloud computing. How fast is it being adopted? How do adoption rates differ from industry to industry? Is the mid-market really leading the way?

Microsoft Case Study: Travel Agency Launches Analytics System in the Cloud, Improves Service

Travelocity needed to implement a robust business intelligence and analysis system, one hosted on the cloud to avoid burdening its own data centers. Within two months, the IT team moved the Java-based system to the Windows Azure platform, improving the customer experience and benefiting from reduced costs, reliable scalability, a fast time-to-market, and a flexible development environment.

CIOs predict hybrid cloud will dominate IT architecture

A new study reveals that cloud computing will become the dominate architecture for IT within several years, however survey participants cite such concerns as ease of transition, quality assurance, cost justification, and regulation on security and control of customer data as potential barriers to adoption.

As Loretta Lynn once said, “We’ve come a long way, baby.”

When I think back to what it was like when I first entered the workforce compared to today, it is a different world. Believe it or not, my roots are in IT – I started out as a system administrator working on Sun OS and Solaris. I spent countless hours in a dark, cave-like cubicle doing classic system administration work for financial companies. Back then, Sun ruled the server world and we used to poke fun at Microsoft’s Windows Server, as it seemed like a “toy” compared to what we were using. Those were the days when “company memos” were circulated on paper as email was in its infancy.

Flash forward and the world is completely different on all counts – I now work in marketing at Microsoft, and the company’s servers are no longer “toys” – they power multi-billion dollar enterprises. With the rise of the cloud and the consumerization of IT, we are in the process of another major paradigm shift. “Going to work” is increasingly becoming just a state of mind as we longer depend on physical location for the tools and information we need to do our jobs.  More and more, knowledge workers can be completely productive wherever they are, from any device. Business productivity continues its march forward.

While we should always focus on the future, we can’t lose sight of where we came from and the progress we’ve already made. To that end, I wanted to share a short video with you, “A Look At Our Evolution,” which follows the progression of our productivity software from the perspective of IT worker Jeff Hay.  Please check it out. No doubt you’ll be entertained by Hay’s changing hairstyles over the 30-year period in which he moves from junior technician to CIO.

This is a collection of interesting articles, blog posts, etc from around the web related to Cloud, Technology, Leadership, CIOs and the Enterprise.  In addition to our own content, the goal is to showcase the variety of conversations occurring around the web in the area of business productivity.  If you have others we should consider for future Digests, just post in the comments section.

Buying Saas: 3 Ways to Ensure Cloud Benefits Meet Enterprise Needs

For all the cost-saving appeal of cloud applications — more commonly referred to as SaaS (software as a service) — enterprises are still trying to get their heads around the benefits and risks of SaaS and which parts of the company need it the most.

CIO2CEO: Why IT Should Do Less Work 

A few years back I was interim CIO for a national retail company. When I entered, the IT organization was in fire-fighting mode. There was very little planning or prioritization of work. They were simply reacting. I caught the CEO in the hall one day and took the opportunity to have a casual conversation about the problem. I explained how it was an inefficient and ineffective way to function, that it prevented us from working on the highest-value efforts for the business.

Skype is Microsoft's Missing Lync

Microsoft, in one of its biggest acquisitions ever, is set to purchase the cloud VoIP service, Skype, for $8.5 billion dollars. Of course, the question on everyone's mind is not if Skype is worth that much (with over 170 million users, no one can dispute it is a valuable service) but just what are Microsoft's plans for its latest acquisition?

The Good CIO's Guide to CEO's Shifting Goalposts

After two years of relentless focus on cost-cutting, we are now seeing signs on all sides of a distinct change of focus, at least in the private sector, with more and more businesses looking for growth and innovation as we emerge from recession.What a golden opportunity this gives the CIO to play a bigger role within the top management team which sets the direction, and guides the future prosperity, of the whole business.

3 Keys for the Mobile Enterprise

Today’s alignment of smart handhelds, information clouds, and social networking innovation can finally take the power of IT to the edge of your enterprise where it belongs. Making the most of this alignment is where success is achieved or lost. So what does technology leadership need to know before they begin addressing the advanced mobile enterprise?

Ever hear the stories of people stuffing their money under their mattress? As strange as it may sound, people actually thought that was the safest place for their money 80 years ago. I must admit, this didn’t sound like a bad idea to me two years ago when the financial world seemed to be on the brink of collapse. We all know, however, that the safest place to store our money is in the bank, not somewhere in our home (under our mattresses).

In the same way that banks changed the way we store money, the advent of Microsoft Office 365 will alter the way we house the business productivity files we work on every day. Between the functionality of Office 365 and the security offered by Microsoft’s data centers, there’s now a compelling reason to move your software into the cloud. Simply put, it’s safe.

Many CIOs tell me their No. 1 concern about moving their business productivity software into the cloud really is the security of their data. It’s a valid concern, and one that should be examined thoroughly. Not all cloud vendors are alike. At Microsoft, we’ve developed a robust, multi-layered approach to security that extends from our worldwide network of data centers all the way to our cloud-based software.  For example, when you store your data in a Microsoft data center, it’s actually housed within two separate data centers located hundreds of miles away from each other. That way, if a catastrophic event occurs in one location, your data remains fully safe and accessible.  By applying enterprise-grade best practices such as these, we’re able to guarantee our customers 99.9 percent scheduled uptime.

We’ve always taken security seriously at Microsoft, and the cloud is no different. It’s critical that it be a safe place.  When I talk to CIOs about our state-of-the-art cloud security practices, their fears typically evaporate and transform into excitement. It’s an “aha!” moment when they realize that the security Microsoft provides goes far beyond what they could afford within their own data centers. Why am I stuffing my software “under my mattress,” they think, when it’s actually safer to store it in the Microsoft cloud?

To learn more about our security features and some of the factors you should consider in moving to the cloud, please check out this video about Security in the Cloud.

After my wife spent an afternoon shoe shopping, she came home with a pair of “must have” designer shoes. “Do you like them?” she asked. “Yes,” I replied, as she pulled them out of her Nordstrom shopping bag. I cringed as I saw the price on the receipt. Why does she always have to shop at Nordstrom, I thought to myself. Can’t she find the “perfect pair” of designer shoes at a discount shoe store?

Fast forward one month and I found myself “celebrating” Mother’s Day with my wife at the mall. She was returning that same pair of designer shoes because she had decided she didn’t like them after wearing them once. There is no way Nordstrom will take these back, I thought—it has been a month and there are scuff marks on the bottom from the one time they were worn. Ten minutes later the shoes were returned and we were on our way. I now understood the value that my wife saw in shopping at Nordstrom. Yes, the shoes did cost a little more, but that is only one small part of the overall equation.

The same cost-value equation applies to purchasing a cloud-based business productivity solution. Over the last several months, I’ve heard from some IT leaders who chose Google Apps based on price alone, only to regret the decision later down the road. As one CIO put it: “Frankly, the Google value proposition is cost based, and once you take that away, what’s left?”

Before deciding between Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps, make sure you evaluate the long-term value – not just the upfront cost. Here are some factors you should consider:

• In contrast to Office 365, which offers powerful, familiar enterprise-quality features, Google Apps can be unfamiliar with oversimplified features that limit productivity.
• Unlike Google Apps, which is a one-size-fits-all solution, Office 365 lets enterprises choose the right offering level for their users.
• With Office 365, users can work offline; when back online, the updated documents are automatically synchronized. Google Apps provides only limited email access offline and no offline access to line-of-business documents.
• Office 365 comes with a financially-backed service level agreement with 99.9 percent uptime guaranteed. With Google Apps for Business, there’s no remedy for downtime unless it affects more than 5 percent of your users.
• Unlike Google Apps, which provides IT the ability to serve advertising to users, Office 365 does not offer advertising to users in anyway.
• Office 365 can be added to your existing volume license agreements, allowing you to move to the cloud with existing investments. By contrast, Google Apps requires a new set of licenses.

To help you make the right choice between Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps, check out our white paper, “Strategies for Choosing Cloud-Based Computing Solutions.” It compares the two solutions, and offers a complete list of questions you should ask. With a thorough cost-value analysis, we’re sure you’ll agree—Office 365, with its superior productivity, offers the best value for your organization.

How has your organization evaluated the cost-value of Office 365? We’d like to hear your thoughts.