
Accenture - It's "more secure than companies think"
By Victoria Ho
Published: 23 May 2008 08:40 BST
"Cloud computing" is now mature enough for CIOs to "experiment" with, according to Accenture's chief scientist.
Speaking at the 21st annual CIO Workshop this week, Kishore Swaminathan, the IT consulting firm's chief scientist, defined the "cloud" as "the sourcing of capability up there, from a place you don't know or need to know".
Pointing to developments in the space, such as Amazon's virtual storage service and Google and Salesforce.com's recent alliance, Swaminathan said the industry's progress in creating hardware, services and applications in the cloud is something CIOs should seriously look at.
He suggested placing "non-strategic" applications and "non-sensitive" information in the cloud, and using the process to test out performance and integration issues.
Swaminathan said: "Say the business unit wants to do something new. Suddenly, you're faced with the huge headache of trying to get equipment. If it isn't critical, why not test it on the cloud?"
While analysts have recently portrayed the cloud as "disruptive", Swaminathan was decidedly more positive about the technology's advent.
He said: "Cloud computing allows you to quickly scale up a project without risk, and, if the project fails, gracefully withdraw."
However, Swaminathan cautioned that "cloud computing" is not mature enough for CIOs to build a strategy upon just yet. He said: "Issues like security and privacy still have to be addressed" but the cloud is "more secure than companies think".
Swaminathan added that companies should try to embrace external applications such as those on social-networking sites: "It's a stupid idea to block out mash-ups and social-networking apps... A company's CIO cannot keep up with the innovation of these companies simply because that's their core business."
Platforms such as Facebook are becoming more organised by publishing their APIs and giving users privacy controls with which to define how their want their identities managed, he said, adding that integrating such platforms could go a long way in connecting employees with existing technology.
On virtual worlds such as Second Life, Swaminathan said: "I don't think, two years from now, there will be a Second Life... These worlds are 'closed' and have proprietary currencies. Perhaps open standards will make [virtual worlds] more attractive to companies."
Original article: Time ripe to experiment with cloud computing from CNETAsia
This is an opportunity for a Java Server side developer to join a leading developer of Trading and Risk Management Systems for some of the worlds ...
An exciting opportunity has opened up within one of the Worlds Leading Investment Banks. Seeking a well-educated candidate (1st or 2.1 from a ...
European Pharmaco in the South East seeking a Pharmacovigilance Scientist for a 5 month contract with an ASAP start. As a pharmacovigilance ...
CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright ©1995-2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Top of page
silicon.com Dear silicon.com... ZX Spectrum nostalgia, Mac attack, tag a bag… Reader Comments of the Week
Steve Ranger Editor's Blog: Home computing from Acorn, Amiga and Amstrad, to the ZX Spectrum Nostalgia 2.0...