Thursday 21 February 2013

Cloud ROI

Yes, there is a problem counting ROI in Cloud computing as Joe McKendrick (@joemckendrick) tell in the post Cloud Computing's ROI Increasingly Elusive, Survey Finds out on Forbes but I will continue to count value, not just numbers all the time. To be able to count value we have to understand Cloud computing and why it should be considered and planned for at the upper levels.

Short break out from Joe McKendricks post:
"Perhaps it’s a result of cloud becoming so tightly interwoven with the business that the potential results may be more far-reaching than a single process or two. Or, perhaps, cloud adoption and usage is expanding deeper into business operations at a faster pace than can be measured. In fact, the survey also finds that the types of metrics being employed are expanding beyond simple cost reductions. While cost continues to be the primary cloud ROI metric, there has been a surge in adoption of quality of delivered results and speed of operation, and utilization of resources as metrics as well. 
HP’s E.G. Nadhan, also active with The Open Group, has been pondering the cloud ROI question for some time, and concludes that what once were sporadic IT costs have become a part of a continuous evaluation process — which may make capturing ROI measurements a trickier proposition. “We need to track the cost of cloud and the returns realized on a continuous basis in order to be effective cloud consumers realizing business value for our shareholders,” he says."
My comment:
Great one Joe. My comment: I know we need budgets etc to plan and that it’s more difficult to plan when it comes to Cloud computing. New tools and methods to budget future IT is needed (as Chris Harding says) but I leave this task to Finance. Change in how we work includes change in how we count. But as a trigger to adopt and a way to compare Cloud computing vs other service delivery methods, products procurement, in-house/on-premise operations etc executives and managers really need to understand this: Cloud computing is part of future IT operations and business; whether you like it or not. Start counting value instead of pure numbers all the times. Heads up exec’s; you too need to be able to understand what IT means to your business in the future. A number is sometimes a great fact…sometimes not…at all. Shadow IT and Rough Cloud will be a far more difficult riddle of ROI to solve and budget.

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