8 Reasons IT Pros Hate The Cloud
We sense a simmering level of vitriol whenever we speak with IT professionals about the cloud in our daily conversations, at industry conferences, and in other settings. Here's why.
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Hate is a powerful word. Yet, it accurately describes how IT professionals feel about cloud computing. They're not screaming it from the rooftops, or starting protests in social media, but there's a quiet level of vitriol we hear whenever we speak with IT professionals about the cloud in our daily conversations, at industry conferences, and in other settings.
Yes, cloud computing can cut costs (if done properly). Yes, cloud computing can improve economies of scale. And yes, cloud computing can streamline IT processes. Despite these and other clear-cut benefits, there are many infrastructure administrators who find enough problems with cloud computing that they end up loathing the whole concept altogether.
Why do IT pros hate the cloud? Some find it hard to believe that cloud computing is only continuing to gain popularity. Some object to the purely technical issues that pose problems for IT pros who are used to maintaining data and applications in-house. They feel the cloud creates more work for them. Oftentimes, the issue is rooted in the difficulty that IT admins are having transitioning to new roles. With cloud-based infrastructure, platforms, or software, hands-on technical skills aren't needed as much as they once were in IT. Instead, many enterprises seek professionals who can act as systems architects, bringing a high-level vision of end-to-end infrastructure.
With time, these and other pet peeves will be resolved. For now, though, cloud hatred is a serious problem. So serious, in fact, that it can distort the roadmap for many IT organizations. If the cloud is ignored, it can cost businesses time, money, and productivity. While some IT shops can get away with avoiding anything cloud-related today, this won't be an option for most of us in the future.
That's why it's so important to air these concerns and discuss them now. In all likelihood, the cloud is here to stay, so it's important that we identify what's causing the hate, so it can be addressed and we can all move forward. Once you've reviewed this airing of the grievances, let us know how you feel about the cloud. Have you found workarounds to lessen the pain caused by cloud implementations? Have we missed anything about cloud computing that you simply cannot stand? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.
The type of cloud model you choose dictates your level of control. Using an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) model, the customer has access to applications, data, middleware, and the server OS. With a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model, the customer only has control over the applications and data. As control diminishes, customers commonly lose all visibility into what is managed by the cloud service provider. You may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg. This lack of visibility is especially problematic when the customer experiences problems and wants to take over the troubleshooting. Unfortunately, lack of visibility means that, at some point, you're going to have to rely solely on your service provider to identify and fix any issues.
Though they may not admit this, even to themselves, the No. 1 reason why IT administrators say they hate the cloud is rooted in their lack of trust when it comes to the safety of sensitive company data. While it may not make many of us comfortable to hand over management of precious data, the fact is that a properly run cloud service provider likely has better resources, and a more robust security infrastructure, to thwart data theft than you can ever create in-house. Cloud security is getting better every day. When was the last time you stacked up your own in-house data security measures against those of cloud providers?
One complaint we often hear from IT professionals using PaaS and IaaS models is their lack of control over network and/or server patches and upgrades. Even SaaS models run into issues when the application is updated and unintentionally breaks some or all functionality. Companies that operate data centers in-house spend a great deal of time and money on patch management to ensure that patches don't break critical parts of the businesses computing needs. In cloud models, control of patch rollout and rollback becomes almost nonexistent.
Some in IT wish that cloud computing never existed simply because the Software-as-a-Service (Saas) solutions it enables are a quick and easy path for non-IT employees to engage in shadow IT. If shadow IT is a problem at your company, you may want to look within your own department and assess the culture before you blame it all on cloud-based apps. While IT can't offer users every new product or service under the sun, your organization does have to be far more agile and flexible than it was in the past.
One of my personal pet peeves about cloud computing is that service providers offer plenty of easy ways to get in, but no easy ways to get out. Many clouds are either proprietary in nature, or are architected in a way that is so dramatically different from other clouds that the underlying infrastructure would be impossible to forklift. Some early cloud adopters felt this pain, and are reluctant to give the cloud another try.
Systems administrators who once managed internal data center networks, servers, applications, and data are finding cloud computing drastically changes their roles. No longer are administrators required for "hands on the keyboard" duties. Instead, many sys admins are being forced to transition into the roles of cloud service managers and brokers. The duties of these new roles are to manage cloud provider relationships and costs, while dealing with system administration only from a very high-level, architectural point of view. For some, these new roles are not appealing, and for others these roles simply don't align with their skill sets.
For many companies, network infrastructure -- from a legacy WAN and Internet service perspective -- was built to be best-effort, and allowed for single points of failure in order to cut down on cost. Cloud models drastically change that thinking. The problem in many companies is that cloud adoption was a gradual process. And all the while, Internet and/or WAN redundancy remained deficient. Costly network upgrades and re-designs are now required to provide a level of redundancy that is sufficient for the business. The problem is, many are finding it difficult to acquire those funds.
In the early days of cloud computing, so many infrastructure administrators blindly followed the herd by jumping in without first identifying many of the issues we've talked about here. Because they got blindsided on the first go-round, they can't help but long for the days when everything was in-house, where it could be stored, controlled, and managed by company IT employees. As we all know, the grass usually isn't as green on the other side of the fence as we think. Going back to the "the good old days" is almost never an option.
There are legitimate reasons for IT to hate the cloud today. But in many cases, the hatred really boils down to a legacy mindset and fear of the unknown. Ask yourself: What's really holding you back?
There are legitimate reasons for IT to hate the cloud today. But in many cases, the hatred really boils down to a legacy mindset and fear of the unknown. Ask yourself: What's really holding you back?
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