Tag Archives: technology

Five Questions Boards Of Directors Need To Ask About Cloud Governance

The many benefits of cloud computing include helping enterprises become more efficient, agile, innovative and flexible, but achieving those benefits depends on a number of factors, including the involvement of the board of directors. ISACA, a nonprofit, independent association of more than 100,000 governance, risk, security and assurance professionals worldwide, has issued new guidance outlining key questions for boards of directors to ask to ensure their enterprise’s cloud initiative is in line with business objectives and the organisation’s risk tolerance.

“Board members need a clear understanding of cloud computing benefits and how to maximise them through effective governance practices,” said Marc Vael, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CISSP, an ISACA board member and chief IT audit executive at Smals.“This requires the board to see cloud computing not as an IT project, but rather as a business strategy.”

According to ISACA’s Cloud Governance: Questions Boards of Directors Need to Ask, boards should address the following five questions to determine the strategic value that cloud services are expected to provide and the impact that the cloud may have on resources and controls:

1. Do management teams have a plan for cloud computing? Have they weighed the value and opportunity costs?

2. How do current cloud plans support the enterprise’s mission?

3. Have executive teams systematically evaluated organisational readiness? For example, are the right skills available? Do cloud processes conflict with other established processes? Do cloud plans conflict with enterprise culture?

4. Have management teams considered what existing investments might be lost in their cloud planning? Does the adoption of a cloud service nullify already-made technology investments that have not reached their planned end date, and is that noted and approved?

5. Do management teams have strategies for measuring and tracking the value of cloud return vs. risk?

“The answers to these questions will help determine the enterprise’s readiness to adopt cloud computing and also help ensure that the necessary governance is in place,” said Vael. “The COBIT 5 framework for governance and management of IT can also help enterprises manage investments such as cloud services. COBIT 5 helps ensure consistent practices to maximise value and manage risk.”

ISACA’s white paper, “Cloud Governance: Questions Boards of Directors Need to Ask,” is available as a free download at www.isaca.org/cloud-governance. The COBIT 5 framework is a free download at www.isaca.org/cobit.

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Embrace The Cloud, Enjoy More Revenue

SMBs that embrace Cloud computing and business websites are much more likely to enjoy rising revenue than others, according to accounting software provider, MYOB.

The company’s March 2013 MYOB Business Monitor study, which was conducted by research firm Colmar Brunton and surveyed more than 1000 SMBs, found that the businesses that adopted Cloud technologies were twice as likely to see an earnings uplift in the past year.

However, only 16 per cent indicated to use Cloud computing and 38 per cent said to have a business website.

MYOB CEO, Tim Reed, said the research findings provide a clear cut case for embracing online technologies in business.

“It’s obvious that as time goes on, Australian business operators using Cloud computing are increasingly likely to achieve positive financial results. This ubiquitous technology has helped so many smaller businesses become better connected, more productive and more competitive,” he said.

Another key finding of the study is the widening gap in financial performance between the online-savvy and the online-cautious.

Business operators in the Cloud were not only more likely to see a revenue rise in the past year (33 per cent versus 16 per cent of those who weren’t) they were more likely to expect one in the next year (37 per cent as compared to 28 per cent).

Similarly, those with a business website were not only more likely to see a revenue rise in the past year (24 per cent versus 15 per cent), but also more likely to expect revenue growth in the next year (35 per cent versus 27 per cent).

“Interestingly, more than half our respondents said they would vote for the political party that proposed ‘free government-funded training on how to use the Internet to enhance their business.’ This says the majority realise they require further education on how to best employ online technology,” Reed said.

Other findings from the study include:

The most popular reason for Cloud use was the ability to access data from whatever location they wanted (52 per cent).

The top use for Cloud computing was file sharing (50 per cent) and file back-up (49 per cent).

35 per cent of respondents said they didn’t know enough about Cloud computing to implement it.

Among the SMBs that didn’t have a website, 68 per cent said they did not set one as they prefer to advertise and market their business using other methods.

Businesses exporting goods and services were the most likely to use Cloud computing and business websites.

South Australia had the highest proportion of Cloud users (22 per cent) and business website owners (42 per cent).

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Days Of Authoritarian IT Departments Are Over

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Today, it is no longer a question of when IT will align with business leaders, but how. That is the conclusion of a new report from Forrester Research, which describes the policies and procedures for implementing cloud computing in the corporate environment.

These are required, according to Forrester, because the traditional model of IT management under the rigid control of the IT department has now become restrictive and outdated. Business managers want the power to rapidly procure and provision the technology they need, unhindered by the diktats of an “authoritarian” IT department, say the firm’s analysts.

“Underlying this new model of business and IT is a shift away from rules – IT specifying exactly what and how all technologies are adopted and applied to overcome business problems – to one of business working within a series of ‘guard rails’ that provide softer guidance on how best to select, choose, and consume cloud services,” writes Forrester analyst James Staten in the report.

IT will maintain its strict rules for the technologies that matter at the core of the business, but will “bend” to enable the introduction of new private and public cloud technology. That will give the business executives that need it the greater autonomy that they seek.

There are three essential elements to this new approach, argues Forrester:

1. Create policies and rules based on what matters and where;
2. Revise lines of accountability and share responsibility in alignment with the policies and new rules;
3. Coach, collaborate and inspect to make sure that the new approach is effective and respected.

The rules for different applications will be grouped into “zones” based on risk – hence, rules governing the use of Plaxo or Linkedin will be very much less prescriptive than rules for using Salesforce.com. These zones will be based on:

1. Business opportunity;
2. Business impact and risk;
3. Technology complexity and risk.

Clarity on accountability and responsibility will bring the right level of control, believes Staten.

He says that businesses need to start today in order not to be left behind in the unfolding revolution over the next decade.

“Technology may be pervasive, and business execs know that, but to them, the IT organization is a drag on time-to-market and closed to their new ideas. But because technology is pervasive, your business will want to use it to succeed in a market of empowered customers, globalized competition and pricier resources,” writes Staten.

“You want to help them succeed at this, and that means empowering them with greater ability to execute on their own, but to do so safely for the overall enterprise,” he concludes.

Author: Graeme Burton
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The CIO Versus Users Who Buy Their Own IT

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The CIO as we understand the role is under threat from Cloud Computing and ICT professionals need to start getting smart about their function.

That was the stark warning from Oracle, a company whose conversion to the Cloud has taken time to go public. While once dismissed by CEO Larry Ellison as “just water vapour”, Cloud is now firmly on the Oracle road map as a top priority.

Hence the appearance of John Abel, chief architect for Oracle, at the firm’s Cloud Conference in London this week where he told delegates that they had to get closer to the business side of the organisation – and at an earlier stage in order to stop non-techies from procuring their own ICT services.

Such ‘land and expand’ strategies have been commonplace in private sector Cloud Computing where departmental heads in, for example, sales have grown tired of waiting for an official ICT department roll out of new functionality and instead subscribed to Salesforce.com off their own backs.

“CIOs need to make sure that they are part of the business conversation early on. For the first time, thanks to Cloud Computing, the business is able to sub-navigate IT,” warned Abel. “Project control is becoming increasingly important for CIOs, because now the business thinks that it doesn’t need IT and it can go and procure its own IT capabilities with SaaS.

“The business person of the future is the same person that will be used to using Facebook and Twitter. They will be used to instant access, they want IT now,” he added. “That’s the challenge that IT has with Cloud, because if IT can’t give the business that instant capability, they will go and get it from somewhere else.”

This isn’t necessarily a threat though, he argued as it gives the ICT Professional a new form of engagement with the organisation. “A good CIO will use this as an opportunity, whereas CIOs that are more conservative, or more risk adverse, will see it as a threat,” he said. “The IT department can capture this problem early and initiate discussions with the business.

“They will work with the business to understand what direction they are moving in, to understand how the IT capability and Cloud can be used to get it there. If they haven’t had that conversation and captured those requirements early, they will be in trouble.”

Author: Stuart Lauchlan
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Global Cloud Computing Scorecard Ranks 24 Countries

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The Business Software Alliance, which represents US companies such as Microsoft, ranked 24 countries that account for 80 per cent of the global ICT market based on seven policy categories that measure the countries’ preparedness to support the growth of cloud computing.

Brazil finished last in the survey, earning only 35.1 points out of a possible 100 because of its policies in areas such free trade, security, data privacy and cybercrime. India – which has the world’s second-largest software industry after the United States – and China, whose information and communications technology sector is expected to nearly double to $389 billion by 2015, were in the bottom six, with scores of 50.0 and 47.5, respectively.

A major purpose of the report was to rally the international “technology community around the need for greater harmonization of laws so a truly global cloud can come about”, said Robert Holleyman, president of the US software group. Without greater coordination of government policies, “the cloud could be chopped into little pieces”, reducing the efficiency that comes from being able to move data and software services freely across borders, Holleyman said.

The seven areas the countries were scored in also included intellectual property protection, infrastructure and support for industry-led standards to promote smooth data flows.

Japan was ranked highest with 83.3 points. It was followed closely by other developed countries including Australia, Germany, the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and South Korea, which all scored in the high 70s.

While the report showed a “sharp divide between advanced economies and the developing world, even some of the high-ranking countries are walling themselves in with conflicting laws and regulations,” Holleyman said.

European Union countries scored well, but “what’s happening now in the EU is lawmakers and regulators are effectively putting their thumbs on the scale in ways that will make it difficult for non-European firms to compete”, he said.

“There are concerns that Germany, for example, wants to put a wall around the country to limit the provision of cloud services to companies that are located in Germany.”

Strong laws to protect privacy are important to give users confidence that private information stored in the cloud, wherever in the world, will not be used or disclosed by the cloud provider in unexpected ways, the report said.

Tough security measures are also needed, but some countries such as China that have implemented internet filtering or censorship regimes could thwart develop of cloud computing and the digital economy, the report said.

Brazil scored just 1.6 out of a possible 10 on policies to combat cybercrime, which is expected to become an increasing challenge as more and more information is aggregated in large data centers, making them tempting targets.

Japan and France earn perfect marks in that section, while South Africa came close with a 9.8.

Even though Brazil finished dead last in the report, Holleyman said he was more optimistic about the potential to persuade Latin America’s second largest economy to make reforms than he was for China.

“There is probably more opportunity to make progress in Brazil by pointing out what we see as the gaps that exist currently and why Brazil’s economy will slow down as result of these policies,” Holleyman said.

“I think it’s going to be a bigger challenge in some other markets, particularly China,” he said.

China “not only has the ‘great firewall,’ that does not allow the transmission between people in China and the rest of the world. But it also has a policy to require non-Chinese cloud firms to enter into joint ventures with Chinese firms” on unfavourable terms for outsiders, he said.

India also appears to recognise it is in its interest to promote global cloud computing, Holleyman said.

Author: Rachael Fergusson
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Cloud Computing Key To Small Business Success

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Small businesses have the power to revive the nation’s economy; they just need the opportunity, technology and the right government policies to help them succeed, according to a report from the Center for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI) and the Digital Dialogue Forum (DDF). The report also notes small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy and they are responsible for two-thirds of the 40 million jobs created in the country over the past 30 years, calling them the nation’s greatest source of innovation and vital to maintaining the country’s economic competitiveness.

A December forum in Washington, D.C., entitled “Creating Jobs and Unleashing the Potential of Small Businesses Through Technology and Innovation” addressed many of the issues that impact the ability of American entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life at home and abroad, including the growing importance technologies like cloud computing and mobile connectivity hold for startups and small businesses.

Steve Felice, president of global consumer, small and medium business at Dell, facilitated the discussion with Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership; Sean Greene, associate administrator for investment and special advisor for innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); and Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week and senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Felice framed the discussion as one about “access”—access to capital, access to global markets and access to modern technology. According to Felice, focusing on these three elements will help small businesses thrive in a way that will reinvigorate the United States economy as a whole. “This is something we have to keep evangelizing so everyone understands. We tend to focus on the large companies, but it’s the small businesses that create jobs,” said Felice.

In addressing technology, the panel highlighted the fact that cloud computing and mobile technologies have lowered the cost of entry for smaller firms, allowing them to invest more in their innovative ideas. Global supply chains used to be controlled by larger firms, but now, smaller firms have the ability to build virtual supply chains to expand their presence around the world. Access to technology has also allowed some of the brightest minds to collaborate on a global scale, creating a community of innovators unrestrained by distance and geographical boundaries.

While Case spent $3 million on equipment when founding the travel Website Priceline.com in 1997, he estimates that entrepreneurs can now harness the same level of processing power and technology platforms for approximately $1,000, courtesy of low-cost cloud computing providers such as Dell, Intuit and Amazon. “The game has absolutely changed in our ability to leverage technology and the ability to access terabytes at almost zero cost by lowering the cost of entry. Everything has information wrapped around it,” Case said. “There are bits around everything, even the chair you’re sitting on. The movement around startups is about leveraging that platform and being able to invest more in their ideas.”

Access to technology has also helped level the playing field for established small businesses. Felice said he was struck by the way smaller firms are able to compete with large companies. “Traditionally, large companies had a big advantage in the supply chain, and they’ve also had much better access to customers through marketing. But with technology like cloud applications, even the smallest business can get off the ground,” he said.

Author: Nathan Eddy
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Pros & Cons of The Cloud For Schools

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What is cloud computing?

The goal of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and ICT services without having to own and manage assets like servers yourself. Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted ICT services over the internet, and as such a consumer of these services needs nothing but a personal computer and internet access.

They are usually described as being Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS); but there is a lot overlap between these. IaaS means accessing equipment you rent in the cloud rather than own locally; PaaS provides for remote application development and testing; and SaaS is an internet-based software distribution model. Often the client pays on a pay-as-you-use basis – like other “utility services” such as gas and electricity.

Cloud computing has made inroads in the corporate world, but it is not universally accepted – with barriers to adoption including concerns over:

• Its value.

• Integration with existing solutions.

• The security of data.

• Legal/compliance issues – about data held off-site.

So are the concerns the same for educators, and will it save money? Value for money?

Schools’ ICT capital budgets have certainly been hit – ICT funding in new-build academies and free schools has been reduced to £800 from £1,450 per-pupil; Devolved Formula Capital funding is at 20 per cent of its previous value; and the Harnessing Technology Grant has gone.

So while the corporate world has high expectations in terms of cost-savings, what about schools? The answer is that cloud computing will save money. It eliminates the costs of selecting, purchasing, configuring, maintaining, refreshing and managing the hardware and software needed for running the applications to be hosted in the cloud.

There is a difference, however. Schools need predictability in their costs and prefer fixed charges rather than unexpected mid-year spend. The “utility” aspect may need to have a different interpretation for education customers. It is important that schools pay only for the capacity they need and avoid abortive spend in over-specified technology solutions. A predictable revenue charge on a per-user basis is a welcome innovation for the schools market.

Is it secure?

Many headteachers and data managers in schools share the concerns of corporates about security and legality/compliance. The security of, for example, pupil records, exam data and SEN information is paramount. There are some who worry about the whereabouts of the data centres too. The Microsoft “Live” services, for example, are hosted in Ireland and the Netherlands so are compliant with EU data protection legislation. For US and Canada-based services there is a “safe-harbour” agreement allowing UK organisations to have the same data protection rights there.

Cloud service providers take security very seriously. Moving sensitive data outside a school’s own IT network and storing it in an external data centre that is accessed over the internet represents a fundamental shift in thinking for some. That said, making data stored on school servers available to users through remote access and web-based technologies and portable devices generally offers a similar challenge.

The difference in cloud services is that the school needs to satisfy itself (and therefore its parents, employees, pupils and other stakeholders) that both its own and the external service provider are both taking a share in responsibility for security.

Check if the cloud service providers are using data and network encryption. Ask if they secure their solution at many levels, how they ensure continued security with new threats evolving all the time, and try to understand what access controls are in place. Organisations you can trust will provide the answers to these security questions and explain their procedures.

Is my broadband connection up to it?

Many schools still suffer from slow speeds in their broadband connectivity, or cannot afford the cost of a higher speed connection. Others, though to a lesser degree these days, still report that their connectivity is unreliable.

Placing key data in the cloud means you have to be able to rely on your connection. Not being able to access exam work because the connection is down is unacceptable. It is also important to understand the nature of the connection. Is it asynchronous or synchronous – i.e. is data is transferred at different speeds up and down-stream (asynchronous); or at the same speed (synchronous). Most Regional Broadband Consortia are synchronous but commercial offerings are often asynchronous – with the upstream speeds typically only one quarter that of the downstream speed. In the case of cloud computing, the speed of the pipe out of the school is now as critical as the speed of the in-bound connection.

The quality and reliability of your connection will help decide what can be placed in the cloud and what should be stored or mirrored locally. Also, thought should be given to what data or services are critical to a school’s operation and what you could cope without for a time.

It is fair to say the access control, cashless catering and registration systems need to have a local element even if they are replicated in the cloud for longer term data storage purposes. Not being able to get through the doors, register and feed the students because key data stored in the cloud is unavailable could be disastrous!

Making this kind of decision means choosing an ICT partner who understands the special context of education and the way the school works, and who can provide real advice and guidance – not just adopt a “never mind the question … the cloud is the answer” type mentality. That said there is clear evidence that commercial organisations have already grasped the nettle and put their “mission critical” applications into the cloud. Many firms have put their customer relationship management and other key sales tools onto hosted environments.

How flexible is it?

A further concern about the cloud is loss of control. There can be little doubt that schools value their autonomy and the one-size-fits-approach does not apply. Cloud services may involve some risk of “lock-in” if offerings require proprietary interfaces or applications and these could pose data migration challenges when changing from one provider to another. But is this different to the situation faced today with technologies hosted in-school?

Will there be sufficient flexibility in the offerings, and how will they evolve to meet the needs of schools where requirements change rapidly? Interestingly, the pace at which cloud services evolve and flex is remarkable. Most offer the ability to use the latest applications almost instantly, with no need to upgrade.

Is the cloud for you?

The cloud is here to stay, and intelligent application of the cloud in education will reduce cost and make anytime, anywhere learning easier to deliver. It will help with the sustainability and green agendas and solve some of the challenges schools face in providing remote access to critical services.

Moreover, cloud solutions can be applied in a flexible, modular way, with differentiated offerings to meet a particular context – such as differences in broadband speeds or the different needs of staff and pupils. To be able to make the best of cloud services it is important for schools to recognise what the potential issues are, and to do this they will need an ICT partner who understands both education and technology.

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How Cloud Computing Helps a Business Grow

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If you came here for the article with the title, “How Cloud Computing Helps a Business Grow”, unfortunately, it has been removed at the request of the publisher of the website from which it was obtained.

Asking me to remove it was within their rights, but I believe it was a shortsighted decision based on old media ideas about the copyright “protection” of assets and the imagined potential loss of ad revenue.

I am not competing with the publisher of “How Cloud Computing Helps a Business Grow”. The articles here are gathered for the benefit of my clients and prospects who are trying to make a decision about cloud computing in their business. There are no competing ads here.

By asking me to remove “How Cloud Computing Helps a Business Grow”, the publisher lessened the opportunity for the author to have his ideas more widely read and the publishing website lost the long term SEO benefit of the link from this page that was here to acknowledge the source of “How Cloud Computing Helps a Business Grow”.

I invite you to check out these links to articles with information similar to “How Cloud Computing Helps a Business Grow”

Can Cloud Computing Save The American Economy?

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The American dream is in peril from the confluence of sky rocketing deficits, high unemployment, and the ticking time bomb of an aging baby boomer generation, with its coincident increase in the burden of entitlements as a percentage of GDP. For the first time, the next generation of Americans, our grandchildren, risk having a lower standard of living than we enjoyed. It is not a problem that can be remedied with tax increases and budget reductions. We will not save or cut our way back to economic prosperity.

The way forward is innovation. America must innovate its way out of economic stagnation and back to economic growth. As has been the case for the last 150 years, Americans have always responded well in a crisis and yet again, we are well positioned to lead the world out of this one. Want proof?

American businesses systemically and culturally react fast. Two years after the economic downturn began the United States was generating 97% of its economic output with only 90% of the labor. This sort of gain in productivity ultimately translates into increased economic activity, the ability to pay down debt and a higher standard of living for those of us who are employed. Unfortunately it does not directly address the issue of unemployment.

The fact is that productivity gains from working harder can only take us so far. Innovation and technology can and must take us the rest of the way, creating new jobs and new industries. Our “so called” information economy, for example, is ripe for innovation. Today, all organizations are dependent on information technology. What makes me optimistic about the future is that we have not even begun to scratch the surface of all that can be accomplished by actually applying information technology pervasively.

We have spent trillions of dollars worldwide for the computers to create and process information, networks to move it around and the hardware to store it. But we are at a point where we spend 60 to 70% of “IT” budgets just to maintain those systems and infrastructures. No wonder progress in applying IT is so slow. This is the technology equivalent of every organization in the world, big or small, investing the capital and human resources to build and operate their own electricity producing power plants.

But instead, picture a world where software platforms are available online and easily customizable. Picture a world where compute power is generated off site, available in quantities when and where you need it. And picture a world where information is safely stored, efficiently managed and accessible, when and where you need it.

These are cloud infrastructures. The economies of scale, flexibility and efficiency they offer will not only save organizations massive amounts of capital and maintenance costs but emancipate them to apply and use information as never before. An unbelievable opportunity to raise productivity while creating unprecedented opportunities for businesses and workers.

Now picture a health-care system where a doctor has medical records at his fingertips, can see x-rays with the click of a mouse, is able to learn and apply the latest diagnostic and surgical technique from anywhere in the world. Think of the efficiencies in hospital supply chains, the delivery of prescription drugs, the processing of billing and insurance claims, reductions in fraud, and the application of best practices for cost controls. The capacity for improvement is endless. As a matter of fact, these innovations are already being applied in isolated pockets. But for us to seize the opportunity before us it’s imperative that we move from isolated centers of excellence to connected systems of excellence. Pick any industry and systemic improvements like these are available.

A new age of innovation and technology advancement is within our grasp – an opportunity for job creation, greater productivity and economic growth. The time for cloud computing is now. We need government and industry to accelerate broad scale adoption of cloud infrastructures so we can reap the rewards of a true information based economy.

As I said at the outset, Americans respond well in a crisis. It is the nature of our society: egalitarian, free, open and competitive that make us the most adaptive, inventive and resilient country in the world. Time again for us to lead.

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