Cloud Computing: The Death of Hardware but What About Corporate IT Organizations
Like the terms social network and before it B2B and B2C, the new ‘it’ word in IT/technology circles seems to be all about cloud computing. Nicholas Carr just wrote about it so you know it must be the buzz.
In essence, the thought is that small companies looking to do lots of computing in a hurry won’t buy hardware but instead, they will rent it from players like Amazon that already have "vast networks of cheap computers" (Forbes, February 11 - The Death of Hardware). This network is the "cloud".
And as the Forbes article suggests, "The spreading of this cloud darkens the outlook for traditional hardware makers such as Dell, HP and Sun, which have already been buffeted by fears of a US recession."
So this is small business today because the kinks are still being worked out, but this is the type of disruptive innovation which will eventually take hold. And so for the hardware makers, it will be necessary to either get on board or get trampled (although this may take a while). EMC purchased online storage service Mozy in an effort to get on board it seems.
The more interesting question is how will corporate IT groups embrace the "cloud"? While the "cloud" is not ready for prime-time with large institutions, it will get there and at that point, a lot of the maintenance work tech staffs do will become obsolete. It will also mean that IT organizations can run a lot cheaper as the pricing that vendors will likely be able to offer as a result of their massive server/processing scale will be more attractive than what can be done in-house. What do those of you out there think? Will IT embrace this change or will they fight it to protect turf, people, organizational dynasties, etc? Outside of the most progressive IT organizations, my bet is that they will fight this. Some of the fighting maybe warranted in the beginning before the concept is fully vetted, but my gut tells me IT will aim to hold onto the "old school" ways even after the concept is validated.
Thoughts?
