The Land of No and Slow - A CIO's Nightmare

The tenure of a CIO is anywhere between 2 to 5 years. It's no mystery as to why it's a short period of time. It's a position where you're most likely not viewed as an executive but as a technologist. You build a budget that is continually cut and projects move at a painfully slow rate. Being a CIO and a Visionary is a wonderful, yet deadly combination in a premise-based environment. In addition, there is a long list of challenges:

* Under-resourced

* Under deadlines you can't meet

* Requirements that don't fit your budget

* Administration issues - procurement, hiring policies

* Business is changing faster

* Management is demanding more

* Lack of expertise on your staff

Cloud Computing is changing all of that for the Information/Infrastructure Officer. It's a new game and CIO's are wise to leverage Cloud for many reasons:

1) The story of a successful Cloud migration looks good on your resume

2) Makes you more competent

3) Helps you deliver on schedule

4) Allows you to have a great vision

5) Cost effectiveness and efficiency is achievable

6) Gives you the ability to outsource moves/adds/changes and other menial tasks so your staff can focus on more strategic projects

7) Affords you scalability - only pay for what you use

There is a lot of noise surrounding Cloud solutions. Many people believe that Cloud is not secure, reliable or compliant. On the contrary, Cloud connects you to more technology than you could have possibly afforded on your CAPEX budget. You can now afford a secure network, reliable service, meet your compliancy requirements and develop a disaster recovery plan - all in the Cloud! 

Plus, with the monthly installments, you are able to move away from CAPEX and enjoy the tax benefits of using OPEX for this wonderful, new technology!

One thing that IT may not have visibility on is what we call "Shadow IT" - individual departments downloading apps, purchasing storage, etc. The biggest abusers of this are marketing departments who don't want to wait for IT to solve their resource problems. With Cloud, you can lock down your network and still be able to provide the resources that departments demand.

As you can see, I'm a big proponent of Cloud technology. Hit me up for a whiteboard session! I'll bring my team of experts and we will find the best way to make you look like a hero!

Sources:
Intelisys Cloud Services University
Abhijit Phanse, United Layer