Page 98 - Cloud Essentials

“Data stored in the cloud is not secure.” This is another fiction.

Public cloud providers are audited by third parties on a recurring basis
and have the expertise and resources to provide better security than
most private organizations do.

Cloud computing can be a disruptive technology, much like the PC was in
its day. Both technologies initially appealed to the mass market and
consumers, rather than corporate customers. As a consequence, when you
adopt the cloud, you must start with applications that have high value in the
cloud but are not very risky.

For example, rather than first moving a customer transaction application
to the cloud, perhaps using office productivity software in the cloud (SaaS)
is a better first choice for the following reasons:

SaaS offerings, such as word processing, spreadsheets, and the like,
are mature and designed for stability, security, and delivery to remote
users.

Users can access office productivity software from anywhere using
many types of devices, so it is convenient to be productive.
Users can collaborate easily with data stored in the cloud. For

example, a user could store a spreadsheet in the cloud that requires
multiple changes from multiple colleagues. Instead of emailing the file
to multiple colleagues and then merging all the received changes, many
SaaS offerings allow multiuser online editing of data.

Look for keywords such as complex, proprietary, and mission-critical in
exam questions when determining poor candidates for initial cloud
pilots. Less critical applications related to general office productivity

tend to make better choices in this regard.

Cloud computing is relevant for companies of all sizes, but it does not
affect all groups of users and departments equally. Table 4-1 shows how
different user groups are affected by cloud computing.

TABLE 4-1 How Cloud Adoption Affects Different User Groups

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