As you point out, we have a problem in that "Cloud Computing" as a label has been smeared on so much as to become meaningless. Your survey contributes when you offer a wiki and web teleconferencing as examples of cloud computing.

I prefer to consider the great opportunity afforded by utility computing, such as offered by Amazon, Google and others and described by Nicholas Carr in The Big Switch.

Most CIO readers and survey respondents already own servers and a data center, and their next computing cycle is already paid for -- free at the margin. They have all the costs already on-board for ownership, security, etc. Adding utility computing adds process and complexity, so the value proposition is muddled at best, and I think your survey results show it.

On the other hand, a start-up that doesn't have servers and a data center has a clear opportunity to capture the full value proposition of cloud computing. Of course, they can lose discipline, buy a bunch of servers and become stuck with the bane of many CIOs -- legacy systems and costs.

Carr also urged us to consider whether IT was still a legitimate basis for competition, with his famous HBR article, IT Doesn't Matter. You decide. But on this subject, cloud computing, stuck in the middle (server owner + cloud consumer) doesn't look like a compelling competitive position.

Ideas at http://crustybytes.com/2008/10/its-not-a-cloud-its-a-mine/

This survey brings up some very interesting topics and some not so surprising results.

My question is: "why not use Cloud Computing services and technologies?"

Typically, what happens with IT over time? It gets more and more expensive to maintain and run as existing applications are extended / upgraded and new applications and environments are added. Never mind the addition of new staff and acquisitions and mergers etc. The IT bill mostly keeps getting bigger. This trend needs to be reversed so the costs can be contained or even reduced. Particularly with the current economic mess effecting most companies.

Most companies spend most of their time, effort and budgets supporting basic IT environments. They are not spending half as much time as they should figuring out how to really support their businesses and how to really utilise technology to drive their business forward.

Exploiting Cloud computing can change this. There are some real business benefits to be gained using what is available today and will only get better as the technology and services improve over time.

More thoughts: Why not use the Cloud?

I think the market is missing an opportunity here. "Cloud Computing" can be done *inside* the enterprise too, and therefore *without* the security concerns that most IT users voice.

The option of an "internal" cloud (what's been called utility computing in the past) isn't new, and is being done today. It offers all of the same operational and economic benefits of public clouds, but without the risk.

The only difference is that (a) it isn't an ideal option for companies w/out infrastructure, and (b)it's not truly "unlimited" capacity.

But the industry has to examine this option on the continuum of cloud computing -- you'll find much greater uptake with this approach.

We at the Institute of Information Systems and Management (IISM), which is part of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, invite you to participate in the survey we are conducting entitled "Identifying Customers' Preferences in Cloud Computing".

The aim of this survey is to derive customers` valuation for price, performance, support level, availability and other characteristics of cloud computing services by conducting a conjoint analysis. In addition, our goal is to explore how customers make their decision on buying cloud computing services. An example would be customers comparing competitive offers or strategically delaying their purchase in expectation of better prices in the future. Thereby we define cloud computing as collective term for “Infrastructure as a Service” (e.g. Amazon Web Services), “Platform as a Service” (e.g. Google App Engine) and “Software as a Service” (e.g. Salesforce) offers.

Please follow the link http://www.im.uni-karlsruhe.de/cloudsurvey to the survey which redirects you to our hosting provider (limequery.com).

To receive a summary of the survey results, please leave your email address at the end of the survey. Please note that we are neither affiliated with any type of company nor does the record of this survey contain any identifying information about you, unless you enter your contact details.

If you know of someone else who should also participate in this survey, please do forward this message or the link. The survey takes ten minutes to take and will be online until Friday, February 27, 2009.
Thanks for participating!

Sincerely,
Philipp Best