There was a time when IT was referred to as "data processing" and that is still at the root of all significant systems. It's about capturing and processing the data that a company runs on and turning the data into information that makes the company more competitive.

The technology, however fancy, is only the enabler - the underlying complexity of processing the data efficiently remains.

The real skill of IT people is figuring out what data is generated and how it should be processed. SaaS is fine as long as the data generated by the company is handled in an appropriate manner. Where the data is physically held is of less importance.

Unfortunately both SaaS and SOA are often being promoted without due regard to the inherent complexity of "data processing".

I agree — IT is facing a sea change. The data center may be outsourced to collocation providers, but the on-premise network infrastructure will remain. Business users will still need to connect to their services and this requires a reliable and secure network infrastructure.

IT organizations will shift their focus to managing service levels, changes, and access using frameworks such as ITIL. Because Internet connections are even more critical for SaaS applications, IT must address the "last mile" issues with redundant, multi-sourced wired and wireless WAN technologies to provide adequate, always-on Internet bandwidth.

Wireless networks will become the preferred method for workstation connectivity. Security issues will become more complex and require specific expertise and technology to manage and protect corporate networks and data assets.

No, IT organizations won't have it easier, and IT will not become the dominion of the business users. Information technology is evolving and IT organizations will need to address these changes to meet the new business demands. For more thoughts on cloud computing, read this blog entry.

Harry Hiles
HBH Technology LLC
www.hbhtech.com
blog.hbhtech.com

I think the risks of outsourcing all of ones' IT plumbing are continuously being overlooked in this cloud hysteria. First of all, you become beholden to a third party (who, when you call them btw, will probably then transfer you to a first line support drone in a call center) when something breaks and require them to both diagnose and fix the problem. Second, the more popular the cloud provider you choose becomes, the more you are susceptible to mass outages (where you could become part of a resolution queue of thousands of customers). You also lose the ability to customize with the degree of granularity you want (you can only choose based on the options that THEY give you, vs. having infinite ability to make your choices). The worst case scenarios of outsourcing all of your IT are pretty scary, and I'm sure that there will be many instances where a cloud computing customer reflects fondly on the the days where they could run some of their own diagnostics and troubleshooting instead of waiting on hold for 20 minutes with Barry Manilow musack.

I think this cloud hosting makes sense for *some* organizations, but there are too many contrived articles and blog postings that are basically advertising it as if it is THE solution.

Also - I am pretty sure that Sun's "the network is the computer", Grid Computing, On Demand, and several thousand other individuals and companies got to the idea of "plugging into IT as a service" (in their various incarnations of the concept) well before Nick Carr.

We've been following the cloud computing "evolution" for a whil now. I suppose as long as it has been in development. The aspect that really interests all of us around here is just how it will affect the plethora of online degree earning opportunities? The smart money is that given the lowered cost of entry as well as overall lowered cost of operating, we'll see more schools taking their curriculum online. And should this happen, there will be ever more opportunities to get real degrees and certifications from "real schools".