What lies on the Technology Horizon, or why cloud is and isn’t the answer.

One of my favorite things in life is thinking about the art of the possible. I don’t always do that from the point of reference of what is now here. I do it, from the combination of what is coming and what is here to arrive at a view of the horizon.

Why? I learned that many years ago from my second IT boss. He was a former GE professional and came in to manage our helpdesk. He taught me to look, not at what I saw, but what could be there if I waited. I have never forgotten that. We are still, to this day friends because of that.

Plus he was an awesome boss. I won’t mention his name because that isn’t fair to him. But he was a great boss!

In looking over the technology window right now, I see some interesting trends. One of them is the reality of cloud computing. In particular the rise of Hybrid (and the drifting off of Cloud Brokers). The economic reality of cloud is saving the organization money. The technical reality of cloud is reducing the churn within the IT organization. If, and it is a big if, we take the long-term view of the cloud solution for our company we see that it pushes us in two directions. We can become a more agile and responsive IT organization at the same time also able to reduce the cost of solutions.

This tipping point though is one that most companies continue to seek and not find. Proactive IT is a logical move for cloud computing, cost savings is a logical outcome. Both, however, are elusive, because effectively we still have the same problems in the cloud that we have on premise. It is the new risk of cloud, the rise of expert cultures that drive towards the right answer.

Cloud is here. Proactive IT has value. Cost savings are good.