Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
June 17, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM U.S./ET (GMT-4)
Larry Bonfante, CIO of the U.S. Tennis Association, will discuss the skills and approaches that your rising IT leaders must learn to be effective in an executive capacity.
How to Handle Your New CEO: Managing Turnover at the Top
June 18, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)
Turbulent times have increased turnover at the top. Find out what Council CIOs have done to "break in" new CEOs—build relationships, set expectations, educate on the role of IT.
Mid-Market CIO Panel: Tips and Techniques for Improving Vendor Relationships
July 15, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)
We'll highlight relationship priorities and best practices identified in a Council study, and we'll interact with a CIO panel on the approaches they've used to improve strategic vendor partnerships.
Executive Competencies Assessment Tool
Assess Your Business Leadership Skills with the Council's new benchmarking tool. Rate yourself in change leadership, strategy, customer focus and more.
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September 14, 2008 — CIO —
Cloud computing is an emerging technology with a whole lot of buzz. But defining it is as hard as pinning down a cloud. Depending on who you talk to, it is described variously as a form of software as a service, platform as a service or utility computing.
What is clear is that we're in the early adopter phase, according to Forrester Research's report, "Is Cloud Computing Ready for the Enterprise?" Forrester offers this definition of the cloud: "a pool of abstracted, highly scalable and managed computer infrastructure capable of hosting end-customer applications and billed by consumption." No matter how it's defined, the cloud has obstacles to overcome before it's ready for enterprise use, writes Forrester Research principal analyst James Staten. So while potential benefits include lower costs, companies are testing the waters only with noncritical projects.
Stability and security are two obstacles to enterprise adoption. While there are few well-known vendors (Salesforce.com, Amazon and Google) offering some variation on clouds, SLAs are rare. And, since cloud computing within organizations often takes place outside IT, vendors cannot always provide references to potential clients.
Transparency is one of the security issues surrounding cloud use. Some vendors will not disclose where an application is located geographically, and they don't allow clients to request a location.
Lack of support is another problem. Since clouds are unique infrastructures, many commercial operating systems are not certified on these platforms. Staten notes that because the infrastructure is virtualized, this creates licensing issues.
However, CIOs shouldn't try to stop business users from experimenting with clouds, he says. Instead, they should get to know the options and then endorse the clouds that fit their organization's processes and strategy. "You don't have to host or provide all of the technology choices yourself," says Staten. "Instead endorse the choices that bring better solutions to the business."