14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Online customers number in the thousands, the Redmond company reveals, admitting that adoption is slow. Ron Markezich, corporate vice president of Microsoft Online and Microsoft’s former CIO, indicates that there are a number of concerns for companies that result in a sluggish adoption rate. Concerns related mainly to security, reliability, and data control are capable of preventing business customers from embracing Cloud computing. Essentially, through Cloud computing, companies would host data and run services and applications in the Cloud, namely on third-party datacenters, including Microsoft’s, in contrast to having them available on-premise.
“The most important thing for an organization to do is to think through their business requirements and how cloud computing might better address those,” Markezich notes. “In all likelihood, customers will use a mix of cloud computing and on-premise environments, and seamless coexistence is extremely important. Then I’d say selecting the right provider is the best way to alleviate concerns. Customers want to make sure that their provider has a proven track record delivering services, have expertise working with enterprises, are open and transparent about their privacy and security practices, and that customer data will be protected and not misused.”
Markezich makes it clear that Cloud computing could be a panacea for companies that are limiting their IT-related financial spendings. Because of its cost advantages, Cloud computing can be a solution for tight and increasingly tighter IT budgets. Customers will get to pay only for what they use based on the subscription model of Software as a Service, but still enjoy scalability options that are unmatched by on-premise alternatives.
“When companies start down the path of cloud computing, they will in all likelihood be running a hybrid environment – a mix of cloud and on-premise services,” Markezich says. “Preparing ahead for this co-existence is important for success. Planning an identity management system which supports this hybrid environment is important. Federated identity allows the organization to support a single sign-on interface for users, which in turn drives up adoption and user satisfaction. Finally, companies that have migrated quickly are able to realize the benefits across their organization right away.”