CIO Roundtable Finds Cure For Common Cloud Challenges

A recent CIO roundtable sponsored by leading advisory firm Alsbridge, Inc. showed that IT executives from a wide range of industries all face similar challenges when it comes to cloud computing. The group examined the issues in a daylong sharing session and created action plans to combat them.

"The OL Summit was a huge success. IT executives from several major industries were able to discuss issues candidly and produce action plans for their organization," says Ben Trowbridge, CEO of Alsbridge, Inc. "We are currently drafting publishable research as a direct result of the summit that will help other executives make the right calls when it comes to cloud computing."

The Dallas summit was just the first of four Outsourcing Leadership Summits which include Chicago on April 12, Toronto on October 18, and New York City on December 9.

One significant challenge to cloud computing addressed at the summit is coordinating between the IT department and their counterparts on the business side, who tends to see "The Cloud" as a magic solution to all of their IT problems. Participants agreed that in order to make practical cloud decisions, they need to proactively change the way they communicate with the business side.

IT executives decided they should present business leaders with a position paper describing cloud computing in context of their environment rather than allowing business leaders to rely on vendor's sales pitches or commercials for cloud knowledge.

Several participants felt using external resources such as consulting firms and analyst research would greatly help to change the dynamic where leadership has deeply ingrained, preconceived notions on the cloud issue.

According to Alsbridge research, another significant challenge for 70% of IT executives is security, regulatory compliance and data privacy in the cloud. The summit concluded that the best way to face this challenge is to conduct due diligence on requirements and map them.

While regulations can be intimidating, says Alsbridge, generally a short amount of research will define what regulations an organization is currently complying with and whether fears of cloud computing are justified.

Although roundtable participants operate in multiple jurisdictions, all agreed that technical solutions, business processes, and control points should all meet the requirements of the most stringent jurisdictions where their businesses operate.

Where budgets are an issue, sometimes IT can choose to isolate sensitive data to secure it rather than attempting to secure the entire enterprise.

A key concern shared by the group was the necessity for thorough due diligence of cloud service providers to isolate data geographically and ensure the security of their environment. While many service providers have far more secure environments than even most enterprise IT environments, emerging players in the cloud market should be analyzed thoroughly before any decisions are made.

For more information and to register to attend a CIO Roundtable Summit, please visit http://www.outsourcingleadership.com/events/alsbridge-ol-summit-home.php

About Alsbridge Inc.

Alsbridge, Inc. is an award-winning global advisory firm and a distinguished member of the 2010 Inc. 500 fastest growing privately held companies. Alsbridge redefines the way companies reduce costs and improve back office operations. Our proprietary benchmarking tools and data resources enable clients to utilize the most cost effective and value added sources globally for information technology, business processes and telecommunications networks. Through a combination of internal optimization and outsourcing, our clients achieve cost savings that support their strategic business objectives. Founded in 2003, Alsbridge is the proven, effective difference. The company's web site is: www.alsbridge.com. Follow Alsbridge on Twitter @Alsbridge_Inc