Expert: Cloud computing creating openness in the enterprise

While Microsoft and other major traditional software are promising large-scale cloud computing solutions, many of them are missing the true mystique of the cloud revolution, according to a recent report from Forbes. In many cases, these traditional software companies are simply repackaging stripped down versions of their software that can be delivered through online models. In many cases, the report said, companies are using software that has been around in secure business environments for years, and calling it cloud computing.

The true cloud computing revolutionaries, the report said, are the SaaS vendors and cloud hosting providers that are using cloud computing to remove the illusion of control in the enterprise and encourage businesses to improve transparency and accountability. While some organizations are concerned about losing control, the Forbes report argues that using third-party cloud solutions can allow an organization to create an inherently social, viral and collaborative environment.

While these open and transparent environments are sometimes risky, businesses need to understand that employees are going to use cloud computing whether the company wants them to or not. Consumer cloud channels, such as Facebook and YouTube, have been so successful that users are finding ways to use the social networking and collaboration tools in their work, the report said.

Allowing employees to use these consumer cloud solutions in the enterprise is a major security risk, but deploying a business-specific, cloud-based solution for collaboration and enterprise social networking can establish common ground between workers and the IT department. IT can retain some control by choosing applications and hosting providers, creating the highest levels of security and reliability, while employees are able to use the social efficiency of cloud-based services to improve their productivity, according to the report.

The report said that cloud-based applications can seem especially threatening because they represent a complete paradigm shift in securing business operations. Historically, security has been an ad hoc, responsive industry that identifies issues as they are developing and works quickly to solve them. This has led to the development of extensive firewall-based solutions in which companies strive to keep data under their control. According to the report, this trend needs to change to allow employees to share information freely and improve production through collaboration and other business-specific communications.

"The reality of business today is that workers need to collaborate beyond the firewall, and if enterprise software makes collaboration too difficult, users will simply go around the system and use ad hoc applications over which the IT department has no control. By deploying web-based software and empowering employees to collaborate more freely, IT departments are relinquishing some control, but ultimately keeping employees from going around the system," the report said.

Overall, cloud computing can transition business software from programs that employees need to get the job done to applications that workers are excited to use because they facilitate interaction and make tasks easier to perform, according to the report. Software needs to help users work more intelligently by empowering them to maximize productivity. Traditional software models often stifled workers, limiting their ability to work effectively, the report said. With cloud-based applications, the report said, businesses can create open environments that allow employees to thrive.

A recent survey performed by Horses for Sources found IT employees are increasingly asked to expand their roles in light of cloud computing and the impact of cloud-based applications. Forty-two percent of respondents said IT should extensively plan and develop cloud computing initiatives, while respondents essentially reached a consensus that IT should be involved in cloud planning. These results indicate a shift in roles, as IT is becoming an important part of business strategy development.