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CIOs Slow to Embrace Cloud Computing

Posted by: Rachael King on May 22

I would have liked to attend the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium on Wednesday. I couldn’t make it to Boston but I followed the conference via blogs and the Twitter stream of CIO reporter Kim Nash. Panelists discussed the evolving role of the CIO in light of cloud computing. Some suggested that the job of CIOs would be radically different when enterprise technology moves to the cloud and that CIOs might even need new titles.

I think these discussions are premature at best. While software as a service and cloud computing are making their way into portions of the enterprise, most CIOs are taking baby steps. It will take years before CIOs at Fortune 500 companies need to worry about new job titles. Surveys show that cloud computing and software as a service aren’t currently high priorities for CIOs.

A 2009 survey on IT spending by Goldman Sachs ranked cloud services #33 on the list of spending priorities among CIOs, with about 50 percent saying that it was a low priority. Software as a service ranked even lower at #36, with more than 60 percent categorizing it as a low priority. Check out the chart here.

Another survey in February by global IT consultancy Avanade said that while 90% of C-level executives know what cloud computing is and what it can do that 61% of companies worldwide are not currently using cloud computing systems. Of those who currently use only internally-owned IT systems, more than 80 percent say they don’t plan on integrating any form of cloud computing in the next 12 months.

Yes, cloud computing will eventually happen but it will be a slow and gradual process. Gartner predicts that it will be 3-5 years before we see mainstream adoption of cloud computing.

If I were a CIO listening to industry pundits muse about what to call my job when my day-to-day tech management skills were no longer needed, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to switch to cloud computing either — not in this economy.

Reader Comments

David Deans @ BTR

May 26, 2009 01:02 PM

Rachael, perhaps cloud services adoption will follow a similar path to managed services -- the early adopter CIOs move swiftly, and use the selective out-tasking of their IT and networking drudgery to free up their time to work on more strategic tasks.

By doing so, they're able to deliver the type of competitive business impact that leaves their risk-adverse peer group wondering how they did it all. Apparently, progressive CIOs are in short supply, according to the latest U.S. CEO Council assessment.

BTW, Forrester Research has described three scenarios where cloud service adoption will likely be applied by those progressive CIOs -- more details here http://bit.ly/1a2M2S

Christian Verstraete

May 27, 2009 02:40 AM

Cloud affinados are portraying an environment where all IT has moved to the cloud, a cloud or nothing approach. I do not buy into that view, but rather believe that the cloud will allow CIO's to address new enterprise needs, rather than replace their current platforms. There has been so much investment in legacy systems that they will not go away. Remember, for the last 20 years, the dead of the mainframe has been announced, and they are still there. So, rather than a Cloud or nothing approach CIO's should be looking for an existing environment complemented with the cloud. And this has nothing to do with the content of their job, it's rather good common sense.

Cloud Nine

May 27, 2009 09:04 AM

"Yes, cloud computing will eventually happen but it will be a slow and gradual process"

I don't think it will ever happen on a large scale and will begin diminishing over the next few years.

Online privacy and data security for corporate records and client data will take priority over an insignificant cost savings (if any at all) and theoretical efficiencies that are not really there.

We will see lawsuits of all kinds varying in size from one consumer to class action over stolen data from hacked systems. And that's just the beginning.

CEOs and CFOs want cloud savings now

June 1, 2009 04:06 PM

No wonder CIOs are slow to embrace clouds to now - its their own job security.

CEOs and CFOs will get smart and drive the Cloud issue much faster than Gartner predicts. Keep in mind, Gartner gets most of their income from selling to CIOs so the longer the CIO is in office, the steadier the Gartner gravy train.

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Technology is transforming the workplace. In the Technology At Work blog, Rachael King and occasional guest bloggers explore how companies are using innovative software, hardware and other tools to revolutionize work spaces, cut costs of getting the job done, and make us better, faster and smarter at earning a living.

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