The Cloud Effect...Who is Threatened by it?

I've been finding myself defending "The Cloud" and the use of it lately. It's kind of a surprising phenomenon since it seems that just last week "Cloud Computing" was a buzz phrase that needed to be spoken in order to get your "coolness card".

The folks I have been chatting with are (again surprisingly) Information Technology folks. One said to me just Monday, "If this Cloud thing really takes off, people like me will become dinosaurs." Another mentioned that he felt more than a little anxious about not being the source of sales info at the company.

As I put on my corporate hat, I do understand it. Business folks have carried a double-edged sword around for a while now. You know the weapon. It's the one where, on one hand we love having an IT Director follow us around in case we need a new report or want to see data in a different way; and on the other hand, we get to complain that the system won't let us do anything without waiting days, weeks or worse to get my result.

My two friends are basically reporting that they have become accustomed to the lives we've made for them. That of the "single source" of information. Now, as Cloud-based ERP and CRM systems are seeing double digit growth, information is much more readily available for business owners and CXOs. Cloud-based business suites such as NetSuite are configured to a business' needs and the configuration can be changed at the user level. It's truly a freeing experience.

The "Dinosaur' mentality would make you believe that IT jobs will be going away in direct proportion to the advancing Cloud.

As CIO Magazine's Bernard Golden tells us, "The net effect is that any loss of jobs caused by the move to cloud computing will be more than made up by the overall growth of computing that the cloud causes and the resulting growth of jobs associated with cloud environments and applications."

(Mr. Golden's article can be found here: http://www.cio.com/article/692542/The_IT_Jobs_Cloud_Computing_Will_Create?page=3&taxonomyId=3112)

The truth is that IT professionals, at least the best ones, were never really valued to their access to the information. It wasn't and isn't even their ability to configure or code to get the information out of the systems. The biggest and most valuable attribute of a solid IT citizen is that, in many cases she just understands how the business works better than the department heads running the business. The IT pro knows where the processes breakdown, where the profit is made, what moves and how it moves. They know where the bodies really are buried. The Cloud does not eliminate their importance. It amplifies it!

With owners and CEOs having more information and configuration abilities at their fingertips, they can stop waiting for their IT person to "get me that". The same owners and CEOs are now realizing that they have a tremendous source of knowledge and expertise. New roles are being created and the old roles are evolving. Last year's Database Analyst is next year's Capacity Planner. Last quarter's Director of Applications is this quarter's VP of Business Process.

It's an exciting time. It's been quite a while since we'had a change as large as what Cloud Computing is going to make to international business in the coming decade.

Put your seat-belt on and open your arms to new possibilities. They are all around us. We only need to open our eyes and minds to them. "Cloud" will be a cool word for some time. I have my Coolness Card. Do you?

Steve Jobs is dead. Long live Steve Jobs.

If I want to tell you there's a spot on your shirt, I'm not going to do it linguistically: "There's a spot on your shirt 14 centimeters down from the collar and three centimeters to the left of your button." If you have a spot––"There!" [He points]––I'll point to it. Pointing is a metaphor we all know. We've done a lot of studies and tests on that, and it's much faster to do all kinds of functions, such as cutting and pasting, with a mouse, so it's not only easier to use but more efficient.

Above is Steve Jobs defending the mouse.  Yep, there was a time when the computer mouse required a defense.

Computers will be essential in most homes….The most compelling reason for most people to buy a competitor [sic] for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We're just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people––as remarkable as the telephone.

At the time it was very rare to see a computer in someone's home.  The market for computers in homes was still "conceptual".

When was Mr. Jobs asked to defend the mouse and make visionary statements the home computer?  Was it 1967?  1977?

Nope.

It was only 24 years ago, in 1987, that Steve Jobs made the above statements.

Ten years later in 1997, computers (with mice) were common in homes and many were connected to the internet.  Today, many computers have moved beyond the mouse, but most of us have several computers in our home.  

These days the "debate" has moved to cloud computing.  We are frequently asked if the benefits of cloud computing are real or just hype.  "We have studies that show you will save over 30% in IT cost, that it will pay for itself while making your business more flexible, more efficient, and make your systems and data more secure," we say.

Our new answer will be, "In 1987 Steve Jobs was asked to defend the computer mouse."

Steve Jobs either created the device you are using to read this post, or he strongly influenced it.  He died today, and he will be missed.  You should take 10 minutes to read the entire 1987 Steve Jobs interview.