- Doing Business in the Cloud – Implications for Cost, Agility and Innovation
27 Aug 09 | Single Topic Reports
This report is designed to help business and IT leaders both understand and assess the implications of the cloud computing phenomenon. While there has been a lot of IT marketplace hype, and it is easy to dismiss cloud computing as just another computer industry buzzword, we believe this would be unwise. The phrase ‘cloud computing’ captures the essence of IT-based innovation today and points the way toward important future economic, business and technology trends. Just as previous IT eras (such as mainframes, personal computers and the Internet) have led to important business and economic changes, so will the cloud. This report will, in largely non-technical language, describe the nature of those changes, and what they mean to business and IT executives alike. We will show that the cloud is already a powerful platform that is helping world-class organisations operate faster, more flexibly and effectively, and at a substantially lower cost.
View Video - Doing Business in the Cloud
Further information
If you would like to understand this topic further and its implications for your organisation, contact your Account Representative.
- Business/IT Co-Evolution - The Role of the Cloud
4 Nov 09 | Presentation
Once a mere adjunct to the organisation, information technology is now increasingly inseparable from the organisation it serves. We are used to thinking about the many ways that IT has changed business (e-commerce, e-mail, databases, etc), but we don’t usually think as much about the ways that business and societal forces — such as advertising, property rights and governments — are shaping the course of information technology. The LEF believes the phrase business/IT co-evolution provides a powerful metaphor with which to describe and anticipate this two-way process of change. Cloud computing will prove to be the single, biggest step in this co-evolutionary process thus far, as — through virtual and variable resources — it increasingly supports a unified model for business/IT agility and change. David Moschella will discuss the importance of business/IT co-evolution, and why we think cloud computing is such an unprecedented and important industry tipping point.
See event: LEF Client Forum: The Cloud rEvolution – Improving Agility, Cutting Costs, and Accelerating Business Innovation (4-5 November 2009)
- Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction (Volume 2)
29 Oct 09 | LEF Technology Program Reports
Abstraction, long used in IT to mask complexity, is an essential ingredient for cloud computing. It's the secret sauce that sets up hardware and software to be delivered as services from the cloud. Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction shows clients how to mix that sauce for their specific needs.
Abstraction includes the many variations of virtualization, as well as services and multitenancy. In addition to enabling new combinations of IT components, abstraction helps the enterprise reduce cycle times. With abstraction, we can do in minutes what used to take days or weeks. Further, we can match IT demand to supply far more accurately, doing away with excess IT inventory.
The Cloud rEvolution series explores IT and business implications, covering technology advances, examples, concerns and practical guidelines. The four-volume series is as follows:
Volume 1: Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation
Volume 2: Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction
Volume 3: Cloud rEvolution: The Cloud Effect
Volume 4: Cloud rEvolution: A Workbook for Cloud Computing in the Enterprise
- The Cloud rEvolution – Improving Agility, Cutting Costs, and Accelerating Business Innovation
22 Oct 09 | Presentation
Over the last year, the Leading Edge Forum has been researching both the business implications and technical evolution of the cloud computing phenomenon. In this presentation, Bob will discuss how cloud computing is being used today in large organisations to make their operations more scalable, virtual, and agile, while simultaneously shifting to on-demand and variable cost models. As more and more business activity moves to the cloud, companies are adopting new management and security practices, while embracing ongoing cultural change.
The presentation also explains the evolution of Cloud Computing, some definitions of what is (and what is not) cloud as well as briefly outlining the CSC road map for Cloud Computing.
See event: The Cloud rEvolution – Improving Agility, Cutting Costs, and Accelerating Business Innovation (22 October 2009)
- Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation (Volume 1)
30 Sep 09 | LEF Technology Program Reports
Cloud computing is taking IT by storm, and with it enterprises across the commercial and government sectors. As cloud computing changes the game in IT and opens up enormous agility and innovation for the business, enterprises are seeking to understand how they can benefit from cloud.
According to economist Brian Arthur of the Santa Fe Institute, cloud computing represents a morphing of the digital domain. This morphing is evolutionary from a technology standpoint, and potentially revolutionary for its business impact, as cloud (the latest major phase of IT) infiltrates all aspects of the economy over time. Or as Arthur puts it, "The economy is an expression of its technologies."
Volume 1, Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation, examines the core building blocks of the cloud, focusing on three areas: universal power, universal information and universal access. Armed with a solid understanding of cloud's foundations, enterprises will be better equipped to take advantage of advances in cloud computing, address its current limitations, and cut through the hype and doubt that currently surround cloud.
Volume 1 kicks off the four-volume Cloud rEvolution series, which probes the cloud continuum from its foundational technologies to abstracted technologies to the ultimate abstraction: the cloud itself. The series explores IT and business implications, covering technology advances, examples, concerns and practical guidelines. The four-volume series is as follows:
Volume 1: Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation
Volume 2: Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction
Volume 3: Cloud rEvolution: The Cloud Effect
Volume 4: Cloud rEvolution: A Workbook for Cloud Computing in the Enterprise
- From the Boardroom to the Cloud - Are Business and IT Organised for the Future?
30 Jun 09 | Event Summary Reports
As information technology pervades virtually every aspect of the modern organisation and an ever more powerful Internet ‘cloud’ emerges, companies are rethinking the way that technology is deployed and managed. Successfully leveraging IT is increasingly a boardroom issue, especially in an economic climate that requires us to do more with less. But does the board understand IT well enough to take decisions about its future? And does IT understand the business well enough to join in boardroom debate?
The Leading Edge Forum has conducted several major studies of how world-class firms are positioning IT for the future, while simultaneously responding to unprecedented global market pressures. This intensive one-day event presented the findings of our research as well as the views of business leaders, CIOs, academics and other forward-looking thinkers.
View videos and download presentations from the event: From the Boardroom to the Cloud - Are Business and IT Organised for the Future? (18 May 2009)
- Lessons from Early Adopters: Choices and Risks in Moving to the Cloud
18 May 09 | Presentation
Cloud Computing is part of a bow wave of change that is washing over IT organizations. Components of the wave include the consumerization of IT, the rise of much more IT-savvy employees and a shift in business models from vertical integration to horizontal, networked businesses.
In this session, Doug will point out where firms are having success today, as well as where capabilities still need to evolve before enterprises can make full use of the Cloud.
See event: From the Boardroom to the Cloud – Are Business and IT Organized for the Future? (18 May 2009)
- Getting Value from the Cloud: Today and in the Future
24 Feb 09 | Presentation
Articles in the FT, the WSJ, and a recent 14 page insert in the Economist have raised the visibility of Cloud Computing in the eyes of general business management. We now hear reports of CIOs being asked about Cloud Computing by their CEOs. And, in the current climate, the question is typically, "So, how can we save money with this Cloud Computing thing?"
In a previous economic climate it would have been okay to make some statement such as, "We are looking into it, but we think that there are some issues with reliability and security". Now it is different, we are all under pressure to cut costs, reduce cycle time, and grow the business. We need to invest energy in figuring how we can use the Cloud safely, not just in why we cannot.
In this talk, Doug will describe how firms should think about various options in the Cloud. He will point out how firms such as Lilly, BP, and Educational Testing Service are getting value from the Cloud today. And he will suggest what we need to be watching for that will let us expand our use of the Cloud beyond just as a substitute for what we do today.
See event: Getting Value from the Cloud: Today and in the Future (24 February 2009)
- 2008 Study Tour Report: The Consumerization of Enterprise IT – Choices and Risks in Moving to the Cloud
9 Feb 09 | Study Tour Reports
The 2008 Study Tour visited a wide range of companies – vendors and users, large and small, established and start-ups – who are active in developing and using computing in the cloud.
Cloud computing has arrived. At present the expression is not strictly defined and is used to cover more than one IT concept, but these are concepts that exist, are being used, can produce immediate business benefits and show great promise for the future. If you have not done so already, it’s time to start piloting projects to get to understand both the issues and the benefits of this new computing paradigm.
Read Ed Sperling's article on 16 March 2009 from Forbes.com on Security Risk: Frustrated Workers
- Organizing IT for the Future
27 Jan 09 | Position Papers
From the earliest days of commercial computing in the 1960s, there has been speculation about the best way to direct and manage Enterprise IT. The function that was once known as the Electronic Data Processing (EDP) department, and later the Management Information Systems (MIS) organization, faced challenges that even today have not been fully resolved. How much money should a given company spend on information technology? How does management know whether it is getting an acceptable return on these investments? And how does a business go about determining its internal computing priorities and decision-making processes?
In this Position Paper, we share both our research findings and our overall sense of where Enterprise IT is heading over the medium to long term, as well as the many short-term effects stemming from the current market downturn. Our goal is to work toward a shared vision of what the IT function will look like, given the position, industry and aims of an individual firm. While many uncertainties remain, we seek to help our clients articulate their overall direction and strategy in what is now a rapidly changing business and technology context. As always, we look forward to your comments and suggestions.