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This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers analyze the state and future of their industry. Read all the posts here.
In the enterprise IT space, there's a lot of hype and talk around cloud. We've actually been talking about it for the last few years. People want to understand what it is, how they get to it, and what value they can extract from it. Given all the talk, one would think that every organization in the world has already successfully solidified and deployed a cloud strategy. However, we're realizing that's not the case.
Up to now, the idea of all businesses moving to the cloud has been just that – an idea. The reality is that most organizations are still coming to grips with what it means to move toward the cloud. They have a general understanding of the benefits and acknowledge it’s the future, but may not yet be sure how to get there. Many organizations are still on the fence, a position driven by a misunderstanding of how to effectively implement public and private clouds.
A recent Red Hat survey of Red Hat Summit alumni — including administrators, developers, engineers, and architects — found that 75 percent of the 620 respondents see cloud computing as a major initiative for 2014. However, of those respondents, 48 percent were still determining their cloud strategy. Respondents named security as the most important business challenge, followed by operational efficiency and virtualization.
But there are open source solutions that help alleviate those concerns, and it is from them that we will see cloud adoption begin to truly explode in 2014 and beyond.
The open source development community has historically been the proving ground for much of the technology that we have come to accept as part of our everyday lives. It’s no surprise that it's here that much of the innovation for cloud is taking place. Smartphones, e-readers, car dashboard systems, home automation solutions, and more — many of these would not be possible without open source software. Open source pushed these solutions into the mainstream, and will do the same for enterprise cloud computing.
That’s because open source software, by its very nature, is designed to make it easy for companies to get to the cloud. It works with virtually any IT environment, regardless of existing hardware. It is cost-effective — the software code itself is free — and highly innovative, with some of the world’s most creative and skilled developers continually iterating on it so that it may provide enterprises with a unique toolset that makes it easy and cost-effective to move to the cloud.
In fact, increasing numbers of companies are looking at open source as the default choice for their cloud infrastructure. They appreciate the flexibility and power that open source brings. Many of them are turning toward companies like my own, Red Hat, because we are able to offer them enterprise-class open source software, combined with world-leading customer support. It’s a combination that provides them with a great sense of comfort, because they know they are partnering with an organization that can guide them toward the cloud in a way that will help propel them forward.
Up to now, the idea of all businesses moving to the cloud has been just that – an idea. The reality is that most organizations are still coming to grips with what it means to move toward the cloud. They have a general understanding of the benefits and acknowledge it’s the future, but may not yet be sure how to get there. Many organizations are still on the fence, a position driven by a misunderstanding of how to effectively implement public and private clouds.
A recent Red Hat survey of Red Hat Summit alumni — including administrators, developers, engineers, and architects — found that 75 percent of the 620 respondents see cloud computing as a major initiative for 2014. However, of those respondents, 48 percent were still determining their cloud strategy. Respondents named security as the most important business challenge, followed by operational efficiency and virtualization.
But there are open source solutions that help alleviate those concerns, and it is from them that we will see cloud adoption begin to truly explode in 2014 and beyond.
The open source development community has historically been the proving ground for much of the technology that we have come to accept as part of our everyday lives. It’s no surprise that it's here that much of the innovation for cloud is taking place. Smartphones, e-readers, car dashboard systems, home automation solutions, and more — many of these would not be possible without open source software. Open source pushed these solutions into the mainstream, and will do the same for enterprise cloud computing.
That’s because open source software, by its very nature, is designed to make it easy for companies to get to the cloud. It works with virtually any IT environment, regardless of existing hardware. It is cost-effective — the software code itself is free — and highly innovative, with some of the world’s most creative and skilled developers continually iterating on it so that it may provide enterprises with a unique toolset that makes it easy and cost-effective to move to the cloud.
In fact, increasing numbers of companies are looking at open source as the default choice for their cloud infrastructure. They appreciate the flexibility and power that open source brings. Many of them are turning toward companies like my own, Red Hat, because we are able to offer them enterprise-class open source software, combined with world-leading customer support. It’s a combination that provides them with a great sense of comfort, because they know they are partnering with an organization that can guide them toward the cloud in a way that will help propel them forward.
I think of all of the CIOs I've been meeting with and talking to over the last six months. The conversations are really changing when it comes to discussing cloud. Instead of wondering if it's safe or reliable, they're asking me "How do I operate it?" or "How does this make the lives of my operations teams different, better?" Frankly, that's new talk that I didn't hear even a year ago.
Forward – that’s the operative word for enterprise cloud in 2014. The market will take significant steps forward this year — a year that I truly believe will be a definitive one for technology and enterprise cloud adoption.
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Forward – that’s the operative word for enterprise cloud in 2014. The market will take significant steps forward this year — a year that I truly believe will be a definitive one for technology and enterprise cloud adoption.
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Author: JIM WHITEHURST
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