In an earlier post, Is it really in the Clouds? How 5 stated trends in Cloud Computing really stack up, we examined some of the hype and predictions surrounding cloud computing. While cloud services might appear to benefit to you or your organisation, there are important issues that should be considered before a final decision is made.

Cloud computing allows users to secure a broad range of services over the Internet from a variety of vendors. Regional experts have even been proposing that the technology offers an invaluable opportunity for the Caribbean to become service and solution providers. However, regardless of the provider, be they in the Caribbean or further afield and as the industry currently stands, there are a number of matters that should be considered to determine whether or not or the extent to which, at this time, cloud computing or a service offering from a particular vendor is right for you or your organisation.

1.  Loss of control. The shift to cloud services, which inherently is the outsourcing of activities that traditionally have been provided or controlled by the user or in-house, requires acceptance of a direct loss of control over one’s own resources.  This issue is particularly relevant when public cloud facilities are being accessed, since users are completely dependent on providers for the quality and integrity of the services offered.

2.  Security. Concerns about the security of information on cloud networks should be with regard to the safety of data online, especially if they are under someone else’s control. Matters for concern include:

  • data being monitored and intercepted during transmissions between a user and cloud provider
  • data is not secure in the cloud and/or the security settings specified by the user are not rigorously maintained
  • a user’s data being accidentally exposed to other users on the same platform or server.
  • a user’s data is used inappropriately by others, even the service provider.

3.  Privacy. The issue of privacy is a serious one, and is linked to some of the security concerns outlined above. However, privacy also speaks to the rights that a provider and others might have to a client’s data. For example, some cloud providers stipulate rights to access and retain user data, and to secure information for legal and government purposes.

It is also important to note that the privacy laws that govern a client’s data would be dependent on the country or region in which the data is physically located. Providers might not explicitly inform cloud users on the location of their servers from the outset, as they might be keen to reserve the right to relocate as and when they see fit. Thus, cloud users may not know where their data is being stored and the privacy laws to which they would be subject.

4.  Costs. One of the frequently stated benefits of cloud computing by businesses is a decrease in capital expenditure (CapEx) for IT-related activities when cloud services are adopted. However, while CapEx might decrease, a business’s operating expenditure (OpEx) will most likely increase in order to pay for such services. It is also highlighted that migrating data into a cloud can also be a costly affair, especially if the data has been saved or is embedded in proprietary systems.

5.  Varying quality across the industry. Since cloud computing is still in its infancy, industry-wide standards are yet to be been developed. Moreover, there is limited inter-operability between different service providers and applications. There are calls for open standards to be established, but again this work is still to be done.

6.  Redundancy and lock-in. This issue may only become evident when a user wishes to cancel use of a particular cloud service, or when a service contract is not being renewed. The user’s data is saved in the cloud, but there might be no clear or easy way of retrieving that information off the provider’s servers, which inherently locks the user in to a specific provider. An equally important consideration is the status of back-up copies of the data in the cloud, which should be removed from or otherwise neutralised on the provider’s servers.

7.  Reliability of service. Service downtime is inevitable. Most are hopefully scheduled – to facilitate systems maintenance and upgrades, and can occur when demand for service might be relatively low. However, the more troublesome situations are those that are unscheduled and are prolonged. In both instances, there should be concern about issues such as:

  • the duration for which users are without access to their information and applications
  • the likelihood of data transmitted when service was offline (such as received emails) being lost
  • security settings being inadvertently changed during those maintenance or repair situations
  • how frequently back-up copies of clients’ data are made, just in case the primary storage area becomes corrupted.

It is also important to note, especially since new providers are constantly emerging, that providers are regularly going out of business and cloud services are abruptly terminated. Users may have little or no recourse to retrieve their data, which can be especially debilitating if critical or mission-sensitive information was being store on the now defunct cloud.

8.  Compatibility difficulties. Although a key drawing point for cloud services is the ability to access those services from any device, incompatibilities are reported to exist between mobile devices (such as iPhones, Blackberry and other smartphones) and some business and productivity cloud applications. As a result, mobile users are unable to successfully use some cloud applications whilst on the go, and currently would have to use either a desktop or laptop in order to do so effectively.

9.  Loss of productivity. With the migration of IT operations from in-house to clouds, there is an expectation that employee productivity should increase, especially in small and micro businesses, since such technical activities are being outsourced to dedicated experts. However this is not necessarily the case. In many instances, especially when reliability might be questionable or the provider’s response time is relatively slow, productivity and even general operations can be adversely affected.

10.  Reliability of user connection. No matter how good a cloud provider might be, a user will not be able to take full advantage of the facility being offered if its Internet connection is slow or unreliable.  Use of cloud services requires a constant connection to be maintained for the duration of the activity, failing which data can be lost and transactions not successfully completed.

Although many of the issues raised can only be addressed by cloud providers, the onus is still on the user to perform the necessary due diligence on the provider and on the service(s) being offered. Equally important, the user must be aware of its needs, key or minimum specifications that the provider must satisfy, as well as its own expectations of the cloud experience. Hence users must be prepared to actively participate in the selection and discussion processes with cloud providers, so that they are properly informed and are in a position to make the best decision taking into account all critical factors.

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