Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms

Driving E-mail To The Cloud

With the right applications, e-mail in the cloud could be a productivity boon.

There has been a lot of discussion about companies moving their email systems from in-house operations to a cloud application--in other words, to a hosted platform on a remote server or data center. Much of the talk centers around two topics: cost and functionality.

The cost question explores whether or not going to the cloud saves companies enough money (or any at all) to make it worthwhile. Arguably, large IT shops may be able to provide email services less expensively than using the cloud. For smaller operations, the savings aren't always enough to entice people to take the plunge.

Much of the functionality question deals with whether or not the cloud's calendar/scheduling functionality--as characterized by Google apps--is good enough to replace the in-house Outlook/Exchange standard. As the incumbent, Outlook seems to have the edge. Google hasn't been able to make an overwhelming case yet.

Analyzing The Cloud

A recent report says cloud computing may not be cost effective for big companies. But that's not the whole story.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with an old friend and his associate, who happened to be an analyst at one of the major information technology research firms, and our conversation drifted to cloud computing.

During this conversation, we agreed that cloud computing would make inroads with small- to medium-enterprises (SMEs) but not with large enterprises. Our conclusion wasn't based on economics but on IT culture. As my new friend stated, "The No. 1 barrier to the use of the cloud is IT culture."

Security In The Cloud

Recent High Profiles Breaches Highlight Security Flaws That Are Not Just In The Cloud

In the past few months there have been some high profile security breaches involving cloud applications that may give people pause in using the cloud.  These got a lot of publicity because of the victims involved.

The first was Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account being hacked.  The second was a hacker gaining control of then President-Elect Barack Obama's Twitter account.