Copyright © 2012 The
Unified-View, All Rights Reserved Worldwide
November 19, 2012
Changing IT Responsibilities For The “Clouds”
By Art Rosenberg, The Unified-View/ UC
Strategies Expert
In
the early days of business computers, premise-based mainframes, supported with
only basic OS software and application development tools (Cobol, Fortran,
Assembly Language), every using organization had to have large IT staffs or
third-party help, to develop and maintain all their customized software
applications. That task became somewhat easier in 1960, when Informatics, Inc,
developed and sold the first successful software product, the Mark IV system,
to IBM computer users for developing batch-mode, premise-based database
retrieval and reporting applications.
Around
1964, Interactive “time-sharing” allowed remote individual users with “dumb”
terminals (teletypes) to dial in to a mainframe computer and use it
“interactively” in real time, rather than in batch mode. This was the beginning
of online applications, but the advent of PCs killed the “”time-sharing”
service concept and shifted the role of online applications to premise-based
servers for remote users.
Now,
with Internet data access, we are seeing hosted/managed “cloud”–based software
applications for both information access and person-to-person communications
rapidly displacing premise-based application server hardware systems, along
with the need for internal IT staffs to develop and maintain such application
software. The timing of this transition is opportune because of the rapid
consumer adoption of multi-modal mobile smartphones and tablets, and the
consequential need for integrating (UC-enabling) business process applications
with flexible and personalized mobile interactions for BYOD (“Bring Your Own
Device”) usage.
The
question now is what role should IT groups play in making the transition from
premise-based, desktop application software to “cloud”-based, multi-modal,
mobile apps? It’s not a question of
“if,” but of “how” and “when.”
Is The “Cloud” And Business Innovation A Threat Or An Opportunity For IT?
As innovative communication and
application services replace both premise-based legacy hardware and software
for business process activities, the diminishing control and responsibilities
for IT staff appear to be threatening, according to Saugatuck Technology. At their recent 2nd annual Cloud Business Summit in
New York City, the changes to IT’s role in any size organization was discussed
with invited enterprise CIOs and CTOs.
While there may be a shift in who
develops and maintains application software, as well as where that software
will be physically located, there will still be a need for technology and
infrastructure expertise to support and manage the selection and usage of all
applications to insure proper and effective results. Whether that expertise
resides internally or is provided through third-party management services, is a
question that must be answered on an individual application and organizational
basis.
Basic “cloud” services, whether
private, public, or hybrid, offer a platform that is location- independent of
the actual software applications and the data they use, and can be accessed and
integrated from anywhere. Such applications can be for multi-modal
person-to-person contacts, online business applications of all kinds, and, of course,
process-to-person CEBP contacts for outbound alerts and notifications. That
makes the “cloud” applications not only useful for virtualizing desktop usage,
but more importantly, ideal for any individual mobile user with a smartphone or
tablet. It really will be the specific business process and the individual end
users who will be authorized to selectively use those applications that will be
the challenge for managing an organization’s various “cloud”-based activities.
The suggested transitional changes in
IT roles are laid out in Figure 1 of Saugatuck’s report.
It is a starting point to consider in planning for IT organizational change to
what Saugatuck calls the “Boundary-Free Enterprise”Ô. Those
transitions involve moving computer applications from location-based hardware
to “virtualized” software, and making all forms of contact with people more
flexible and interoperable through UC-enablement.
A key insight from the Summit
discussions for the future responsibilities of IT management was:
“Users first. The widespread scale and scope of easily-adopted,
Cloud-enabled, individual productivity capabilities shifts power and influence
more toward Business users, not Business organizations. Specific Business
processes and functions are the initial means of Cloud incursion into the
enterprise.”
Of course, mobile BYOD and its impact on
communicating with people, is also part of the game change involved in “cloud”
services. So, by definition, moving to a “cloud” environment will also mean UC–enablement and CEBP integrations for all business applications involved with
any mobile end users, whether they be employees, business partners, or consumer
customers. This will be particularly important for customer interactions
because of widespread mobile “consumer BYOD.”
For
some additional Cloud Business Summit perspectives on “cloud” applications and
it’s impact on IT organizations, you can find more commentary from this Saugatuck web site.
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