Hype neither helps nor hinders Cloud Computing

Market hype isn’t helping the move to the ‘Cloud’ – but won’t stop it either. That was the consensus from speakers representing both central and local authority ICT leaders, who say they are resisting needless terminology wars and concentrating on what is sensible and practical to take from Internet-based service delivery of capability.

“Cloud is somehow always the ‘next big thing,’ always coming round the corner – statements which always remind me that IT is the most fashion-driven industry in the economy, even more so than the fashion industry itself!” joked Mark O’Neill, the Chief Information Officer for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in a debate last week at the Business Cloud Summit 2010 in London

“What’s important is looking for ways to save cost and add real cost benefit to the way you do computing, and if anything that can do that as some form of managed service, name tag aside, use it – and if it doesn’t, don’t,” he added.

Examples of which were provided by O’Neill’s co-speaker in the debate on government and the Cloud, David Wilde, who performs the equivalent job of ICT leadership at Westminster City Council. “By using a zero infrastructure technology approach, as we call Cloud, I have reduced the cost of TCO per user per annum per desktop from £2,500 to £1,500 – which is money I can bank to use elsewhere,” he told delegates.
 
Jargon busting is only part of the issue of a move to the Cloud, however. For both speakers also stressed the fact that ‘Cloud’ is only part of a very complex environment and set of processes around delivery of service in the public sector.

“Legacy is and always will be a huge issue,” warned O’Neill. “Cloud isn’t some magic pixie dust that will be sprinkled on top and change all that. I have just been told I need to keep all data and systems for a now closed set of government activity for auditing purposes until 2017, and I can’t be alone,” he said.

O’Neill and Wilde in fact agreed that both custom line of business and older desktop systems like Lotus Notes are likely to remain a huge part of the mix for the foreseeable future. “We will always live in a very mixed ICT economy,” said the former.

But that reality also underlines why whatever we end up calling the Cloud is needed. “To be frank – most government line of business software is rubbish,” said O’Neill, pulling no punches. “We need things to be faster, cheaper and better than we have now, ideally all three, and it doesn’t matter how we get there.”

But his local government colleague also pointed out that any progress can’t be predicated on technology alone. “There has to be an element of cultural change, too,” said Wilde. “We have to get away from a culture where it is OK to take 400 clicks to do anything and look to improve business processes, too.”