March 7, 2008

Is Cloud Computing Ready For The Enterprise?

Not Yet, But This Disruptive Innovation Is Maturing Fast

by James Staten

with Simon Yates, Frank E. Gillett, Walid Saleh, Rachel A. Dines

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Cloud computing is a new IT outsourcing model that doesn't yet meet the criteria of enterprise IT and isn't supported by most of the key corporate vendors. It's wildly popular with startups, exactly fits the way small businesses like to buy things, and has the potential to completely upend IT as we know it. And there's a high likelihood developers inside your company are experimenting with it right now. Forrester spoke with more than 30 companies in this market to determine its worthiness for enterprise consideration and found that it provides a very low-cost, no-commitment way for enterprises to quickly get new services and capabilities to market that entirely circumvents the IT department. Infrastructure and operations professionals can try to ignore it as it is just in its infancy, but doing so may be a mistake as cloud computing is looking like a classic disruptive technology.

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