Is Cloud Computing a Digital Transformation Enabler or Obstacle?

Cloud computing was supposed to make our lives easier. With the ability to access applications and data from anywhere, on any device, it should have simplified things by making systems more flexible and efficient. But according to a new report by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, this isn't always the case: 80% of respondents say that using different cloud applications have added complexity rather than simplifying their IT environment.

Cloud computing is everywhere and there's now an expectation that moving to the cloud should be straightforward. Cloud evangelist claims it's easy to develop applications in the cloud, but simple isn't always as simple in practice as it sounds on paper.

Keeping It Stupidly Simple - Not So Fast

So, what's not to like?

In a nutshell: It's not always quite as simple as that.

The infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model is the most widely adopted cloud model today. In IaaS, organizations consume resources in real time and pay only for what they use. That’s pretty straightforward but it can be challenging to forecast your resource needs accurately enough to stay within budget - especially if you're new to the cloud and don't have historical data on which to base your forecasts. If you underestimate how much power or storage you'll need or overestimate it so that costs are lower than expected, then things can get messy very quickly.

The third annual cloud computing research report from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, finds that professionals are reporting a more complex environment after moving to the cloud.

This reflects a changing mindset, with the industry recognizing that some of the problems they're trying to solve - increased complexity and manual processes - won't necessarily go away. As a result, they've started looking at new ways of working and tools that enable them to automate and integrate their business systems. The cloud is one of these tools.

Cloud influencers and profiteers are quick to suggest that cloud technology is making things simpler by freeing up time previously spent on routine maintenance tasks like patching software or updating system configurations. Instead of taking hours every week just to keep their environment running smoothly (or worse: running into problems because someone didn't stay on top of it), they theorize that organizations can now spend more time on strategic initiatives like digital transformation projects and innovation research.

While a move to the IaaS model does in fact reduce those previously aforementioned maintenance and support costs, what is conveniently not mentioned is providing the same level of performance of on-premises systems will come at a significant cost essentially wiping out any previous expected savings.  Additionally, an organization going all-in on cloud infrastructure can expect less transparency and more reliance on the shady world of vendor support in attempting to diagnose problems and/or solve performance degradations. Cloud providers will immediately go into "diversion and deflection" schemes to inundate the organization with requests for very specific data (timestamps, application areas (which they probably know nothing about), trace files, session information, etc.) betting on the likelihood that it will not be provided and thus the ticket can be closed.

It takes time to adjust your strategy and infrastructure when you make profound changes like moving to cloud-based services.

As you make a shift from on-premises to cloud, you need to be prepared for what lies ahead. It's important to understand that any big change in strategy and infrastructure will require time for adjustment, coupled with sticker shock in costs until you dial in the resource consumption that you and your users can tolerate.

You can't simply plug your systems into a cloud environment and expect everything to work perfectly or as expected. 

Surveys reveal that many organizations are still struggling to understand the value of cloud computing, with 51% saying they do not know if their organization is ready for a digital transformation. The majority (73%) also said they have no strategy in place to achieve a digital-first approach.

Smoke and Mirrors on Simplicity

Simplicity is one of the biggest selling points of cloud technology, so why do respondents say it's adding complexity?

One of the biggest selling points of cloud technology is that it simplifies IT management. However, in our survey, respondents reported feeling as though their experience with cloud brought them more complexity than they expected. In fact, 38% said that moving to the cloud has added complexity to their digital transformation efforts.

Research shows that 80% of respondents feel that using different cloud applications have added complexity to their IT environment rather than simplifying it.

This is not surprising when you think about how much time an organization invests in designing, building and integrating IT systems. The problem is that most of those systems are now being hosted on the public cloud which means they run in isolation from each other instead of talking to each other like they used to.

Roughly three-quarters (75%) of respondents indicated that they think the cloud is adding complexity to the management of infrastructure and applications. Similarly, 75% also said they believe their organization will face new challenges in terms of data privacy and security as a result of adopting cloud services.

This finding suggests that while many organizations are planning to move their IT infrastructure to the cloud in order to manage costs, there may be an unexpected side effect: more complex management processes for IT teams and higher administrative overhead overall.

In fact, only 14% found that cloud made their IT environment easier to manage overall.

While the cloud can be a powerful tool in the right hands, it’s often used as a catch-all solution for everything from data security to data storage and management. While this may not be a good idea, it is becoming more common because businesses are struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of change in technology. Many companies don’t have enough experienced people on hand to manage all these new technologies properly.

At first glance, this seems at odds with the promise of an easier life for developers working with cloud-based applications. The advantages of cloud computing have been well theorized: faster time to market, lower costs and increased agility are just some of the alleged benefits that come from not having to buy hardware or software licenses. But when you look deeper into how the modern enterprise operates, it becomes clear why many enterprises still find themselves in a state of digital limbo.

Conclusion

We've already seen how easy it is to get started with a cloud-based solution; you just sign up and away you go. But while there are plenty of benefits to using cloud technology, it's not all plain sailing. There is a learning curve when it comes to managing the data privacy/security issues that come with using third-party services, as well as figuring out how best to manage your infrastructure when everything is running off one central server rather than locally on each workstation or even individual user accounts like before.