It’s easy to fall into common pitfalls in the rush to employ new technology. Business leaders want to implement the innovative solutions that will bring efficiency and lower spending to their organization. However, insufficient planning can lead to mixed or negative results, and cloud loud technology is a good example of this because of its widespread proliferation.
Jake Gardner, content marketing manager at Logicworks, outlined what he considers the seven sins of cloud computing in a Wired article. The cloud allows for a high level of self service once implemented, but there is still a significant amount of internal expertise required to implement and manage it effectively. Gardner warned against moving forward with deployments without sufficient knowledge to optimize. Fostering a cloud-aware business environment is likely to become more important as organizations utilize numerous vendors, platforms and delivery models.
“With a lack of internal understanding, or even a reticence by internal staff to provide a comprehensive reasoning for cloud (for fear of losing their jobs), chief decision makers are often not working with all the facts that could provide them with best reasons for or against cloud implementation,” Gardner wrote.
While some of the items on his list seemingly place responsibility on the buyer, cloud storage companies can be proactive in helping their customers get the most out of deployments. For example, establishing clear rules for data ownership and uptime will ensure that organizations know what they’re buying into. Gardner also suggested that customers should look beyond the service-level agreement to create a better understanding of the cloud provider’s architecture. As a result of the increased focus on infrastructure, vendors can benefit from adopting highly efficient and resilient hardware solutions.
The proliferation of multiple cloud services is also affected by shifts in expectations. As Paul Cormier, president of products and technologies at Red Hat, recently noted in a Data Center Knowledge post, organizations are increasingly looking toward their technology providers for guidance on how to move forward with deployments.
