Submitted by MSPAlliance Member Kat McClure, Global Marketing Director, StratoGen Hosting-
Deploying to the cloud is a big transition for any firm. Responsibilities, technology and infrastructure are being outsourced, any way you cut it, and this shift has to be considered in light of the way that it impacts IT. But it’s critical to understand that outsourcing infrastructure doesn’t necessarily mean outsourcing labor. When we map out the specifics of the transition, we can better appreciate the ways that the role of a vital, well-equipped IT department adapts to the new technology, instead of merely being replaced by it. Here are some of the ways that IT and the cloud go hand in hand.
- The cloud is for cost reduction… and so is your preexisting infrastructure. Often, the sunniest portrayals of the potential of the cloud present a concept like IT scalability as a new forefront in technology. But your existing IT department, whatever size it may be, was constructed with this concept already in mind. You’re built for growth. And the most onerous aspect of managing that growth is in laying down the groundwork- in resources, in new infrastructure: exactly what the cloud most directly helps to relieve. Managing those systems, with all of their applications and user interactions is still an undertaking that requires leveraged effort from somewhere. And there’s absolutely no reason to think that a cloud provider, however professional, is better suited to manage this growing environment than your own IT department. After all, it’s what it was born to do.
- Because the cloud is flexible. But it’s not in house. Taken together, this means that you get to make the decision: what elements of our infrastructure are we satisfied with outsourcing? Your business network has to be resistant to external shocks. The cloud provider is not a part of your business- you’re a priority, but you’re not the only priority. But your IT department is your business. You are their only priority. This gives in-house IT responsiveness and purpose that can’t merely be exchanged or outsourced. Companies that have embraced the cloud have learned to navigate the generalized capabilities of their cloud provider and the specialized abilities of the core IT. This synchronicity is the future- and it works to the benefit of all.
- The cloud unifies IT. Scalability isn’t just about power. It’s easy to develop tunnel vision when looking at the benefits of a cloud provider. The questions we’ve learned to associate with cloud deployment are ‘how big will our business grow, and how fast?’ But businesses grow in complexity as well, and this is where the cloud can clarify the role of traditional IT without infringing on its place in the business. The problem of shadow IT- unfamiliar, disparate technology used towards business ends but without IT oversight or control, has only grown in intensity with the explosion of the mobile device. A professionally managed cloud can sidestep those concerns, unifying your IT, breaking open those pesky, productivity-harming data silos and bringing your shadow IT into the light. In this sense, the cloud isn’t taking anything out of your IT department’s hands. Rather, it’s placing the reigns firmly back in its grip. And that has broad implications for the evolving role of IT.
