Cloud Computing Adoption & Cloud Appreciation Courses

I had a wonderful buffet today and was amazed at the aggressive pricing of the food on offer, after a sumptuous meal my thoughts wandered Cloud Computing.  

The Buffet  pricing was based on the philosophy that the customer will pick and choose what they need but overall the price will average out and so will the margins, since no two people have the same appetite or intensity to eat. 

More experienced buffet eaters know what to choose and eat and I call them value pickers, if they pay Rs. 300 they will make sure they eat that value of food irrespective of its consequences to their health. The second are the health conscious eaters who will pick healthy food which is valuable in nutrition and good for their health. The last is the one who will eat what they need and leave the rest on the buffet table.  To adopt any one of these strategies one needs to have experience with buffets, I still remember one of my classmates who used to visit a Chinese Buffet on Sundays, on the third Sunday he was declined entry, he was a value and quantity eater whom the eating establishment had identified after two visits :-) and hence was kept out.

You need a teacher to help you choose the right cloud to ride !

This is not a Warren Buffet class on investing  or a TV Food class,  the analogy is cloud is similar to the buffet and also warrants an investment strategy. The primary requirement for investing is understanding the underlying asset, which is the cloud computing utility.

So how does one understand cloud computing, my lament to my friend was I have been evangelizing the cloud for many  years, I have spoken in conferences, conducted cloud technology training, shared knowledge at business forums, engineering &  business schools to evangelize cloud and entrepreneurship. 

My friend across the table came up with a wonderful insight, he told me to focus on personalized cloud computing education.  People cannot appreciate something they have not understood, it is like looking at flawless Indian Chola bronze without understanding how it was made and the intricacies used in creating this piece of art and its current value in the art market.  The wise go to an art appreciation course before investing in pieces of Art to make sure that their  investments in art appreciate and also add joy to their existence.

The same is true for cloud computing, many use Facebook, LinkedIn, Google  Twitter, Pinterest and more without understanding what lies behind it, no wonder business is reluctant to adopt social media.
They are users who are clueless about how to leverage on social media in the cloud for their business.

Just like an art appreciation course there is a need to conduct Cloud Appreciation Courses.

Like the buffet the Cloud Computing Appreciation Course(CCAC)  will be segmented based on the audience, so here goes my thoughts on the various appreciation programs : 

• CCAC for the Board - For the Board of Directors 

• CCAC for the Regulator - For the Regulators of sectors like Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Financial Markets

• CCAC for the Corporate - For  the CMO, Chief of HR, CIO, CTO, CXO & SBU heads

• CCAC for the Leaders - For the future leaders in the organization.

• CCAC for Technology Team - This is for the IT team to understand the nuts and bolts .

• CCAC for Start-ups - This is for entrepreneurs and start-ups who can benefit from the cloud.

• CCAC for Business Schools - This is for the future business leaders in school

• CCAC and Golf - A blending of Cloud Computing  with the game of golf.

Today's lunch buffet was wonderful, we agreed it was value for money meal, and the bonus was my friends sagacious advise to take the cloud to decision makers.

If you are a decision maker and need help to ride the cloud remember you may need a Cloud Appreciation Course for a safe and enjoyable cloud journey.

Secure Data in the Cloud and Internet are Misplaced Concerns

There has been widespread attack on security of data and there has been a clamor to bring back data into the data centers and set the clock back on cloud computing and the internet.
This has been driven by panic and a lack of understanding by many on the risks associated with data in motion, any data in motion is vulnerable to attack and capture whether encrypted or otherwise.
Data in motion can be in device and more importantly a network whether private or internet, the risks are compounded based on the medium in which data is in motion.
Any  government requesting data and data encryption security features like keys and algorithms do so to secure and protect the country. The governments primary business is to protect its citizens in a complex world run on digital technology and it is every citizens duty to cooperate with the government .

Do not allow your cloud computing plans to wilt, there is a bouquet of security strategies to protect your data.

There are  fears that government's access to Business Data will blunt the competitive advantage of the business and put it at a disadvantage. This is far from the truth, why would any government want to hurt business which is its main source of taxes and generator of employment and commerce.
Rather businesses that are open to unethical business practices and more importantly insider trading are those who may be most worried about sharing their data with the Government agencies.
The laws of most countries give legal access to Government agencies to business information and this is not snooping, rather the havoc created by cyber-criminals on business data is much more then what the government would ever achieve with your business data.
Another aspect is any data on a network is vulnerable including your data centers which connect to the internet and other networks, the features provided by cloud computing vendors for security when used prudently can give you a better security posture at a lower price point then what you can implement in your  business data center and networks.
This is a wake up call for companies to look at cloud computing with IT GRC as the first point of  evaluation; if you are already in the cloud then revisit your IT GRC posture.
A cost benefit approach to data security and the cloud/internet will help in overcoming the misplaced concerns on data security.
Finally if you do not understand the Information Life-cycle Management and data protection risks and the available solutions to mitigate them, hire an expert to help you with your IT GRC strategy to protect your business data and also overcome your fears; you will also need legal counsel to understand and interpret your countries posture on data collection. Freedom of Speech and right to privacy can only exist in countries where the government is vigilant.
This is an opportunity for information security professionals &solutions companies to work with business and help them secure their data and assist them in overcoming their misplaced apprehensions.
It is also an opportunity for legal experts who specialize in data privacy, information security and compliance to assist companies in getting their act together by educating them on the various aspect of the law in their countries.
We have nothing to Fear other then Fear itself,so get the right arsenal and take your business to the cloud confidently and securely.

Cloud Adoption - Start with the Public Cloud.

Many Enterprises start with virtualization in their data center and then scale their data centers into a private cloud and then maybe migrate to a hybrid cloud by integrating with the public cloud.
This approach could be flawed though it may give comfort the CTO/CIO of the organization,  because  it may be a risky route to test cloud computing.
Virtualization management needs good skilled personnel more so when the virtualized servers run into a problem, these resources are a challenge to find and even if found difficult to retain .
Secondly building private clouds may not be economical and is time consuming to get it resilient and reliable.
Most private enterprise clouds do not have a self service model build in their deployment, rather it goes through the IT department again, which means there is no agility and ease of deployment of services for an end user.

A Private Cloud May turn out to be like the boat in the Well!

A better route for an enterprise is to start using the public cloud by launching a social media campaign and a few SAAS solutions which  will bring agility, innovation and value to the enterprise.
Add on mobile device accessibility to enhance the employee experience and  you have a winning cloud deployment in your enterprise. You would delight the enterprise leadership with this approach, since it may add visibility and simplicity in getting a better insight into the teams that they manage in a very short window of time.
Using the Public Clouds builds  the required confidence and trust in cloud computing. Once these benchmarks are established you may want to invest in a cloud appliance for the private cloud which can be deployed withing the enterprise. Once the private cloud appliance is integrated with the public cloud presto you have a hybrid cloud and are ready to reap the economical and strategic benefits of the cloud !

Your private cloud may turn out be like the boat in the picture, which is at rest in a well with no where to go