Cloud Computing – Caveat Emptor

I attended a Webcast yesterday that was jointly performed by global IT solutions organization and a global IT hardware and software vendor.  During this hour plus long presentation I kept asking myself: “Is this another IT buzzword or can this platform really change the game?”

I can honestly say that at the end of the presentation I am a firm believer that it is currently a mere buzzword and not the panacea that many companies are pitching it as.

You may ask yourself why did I come to that conclusion, and I would answer that with the following:

–   Gartner’s Hype Cycle clearly shows this platform is still in its infancy

– Too many unknowns on how it actually works, how it is billed, legal ramifications

The last point was made clearly obvious to me when I asked the presenters the question: “In your experience, has organization’s legal departments modified the way in which this platform and method of delivery affects their vendor contracts? And if not, do you have any insights on what key modifications need to be made to ensure business continuity and service?”

Their answer? There wasn’t one.

To me, this is the key reason why Cloud Computing is still a hype-enriched buzzword at this point.  Granted, it does provide some great benefits to a company, but until there are some concrete vendor management processes and policies in place, I feel that it is a can of worms waiting to be cracked open.