Master the Cloud Cliff: Three Critical Business Concerns

Many executives acknowledge the benefits of public cloud services, but say it's important to navigate the "Cloud Cliffs" that can create barriers for enterprises changing strategic direction.

Cloud Cliff #1

Performance

Even the most efficient and well-designed cloud environments can be limited by performance shortcomings such as:

  • Latency
  • Scalability
  • Responsiveness

Scaling is better on-prem for some things, as our IT guys can make that happen through virtualizion.

— Healthcare IT executive

Cloud Cliff #2

Cost

Many executives expected rock-bottom pricing from unmanaged, commodity cloud offering and instead experienced issues such as:

  • Higher-than-expected costs
  • Issues with economies of scale
  • Inconsistent and/or confusing billing

With on-prem solutions, you know what you buy, how much is being depreciated, and the cost for labor to run it all.

— Public sector IT executive

Cloud Cliff #3

Security & Control Risks

A loss of control is often one of the main drawbacks for public cloud deployments, raising issues such as:

  • Lack of flexibility and customization
  • Limited security and compliance
  • Cloud sprawl and vendor lock-in

For organizations like ours that deploy IoT solutions, security is not optional; it's essential.

— Healthcare IT executive