The IT Skeptic - cloud

My changing mind

skeptic — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 07:58:47 +0000

It's lucky for me that I don't get the kind of attention which would lead to people comparing my current posts to my old ones. There is nothing worse than having your own words quoted back to you a decade later. And this blog has been going 12 years, so my views have certainly changed over that time - not drifted slightly, but shifted majorly. Here are some examples:

Microsoft Office dependency

skeptic — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:15:55 +0000

All my company really needs MS-Office for is to comply with other organisations when they share media. Is that enough reason to stay stuck on it? Can I reasonably ask for other formats?

The IT Skeptic's company, Two Hills, inches ever closer to the goal of being a totally cloud-based organisation. OK I missed the 2011 target, but the second-to-last obstacle fell when I moved the company financials to Xero. What's left? MS-Office.

What do I need MS-Office for?

Transformational technologies are a small view

skeptic — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:40:44 +0000

It seems to me that new technologies such as cloud, social media, or mobile personal computing, are seen as much more transformational by some of us in IT than they really are. I suspect that is because of our industry's fixation with technology at the cost of people and process.

We need a movement

skeptic — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:33:33 +0000

"What if..." "What if..." So many great minds, and a few not-so-great ones, are trying to "solve" ITSM right now. It's a geek thing. It's a man thing.

Two Hills' cloud-based IT strategy for 2011

skeptic — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:47:35 +0000

When you are a company of one, there are limited opportunities to test your IT strategies. So let me share one with you readers for feedback. This year Two Hills Limited is going Cloud.

Cloud is a distraction to IT's day job

skeptic — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:33:56 +0000

This started as a comment but I made it a post - it is important. I've talked before about how IT Management is 1% innovation and 99% perspiration. Innovation is not our day job. For the small number of IT people who are in charge of conceptualising new services or setting architectural directions, then Cloud is very exciting.

A few swallows in the Cloud are not altering the landscape

skeptic — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:24:23 +0000

I'm happy for Rodrigo Flores (who has probably given up on me at this point) that he has a few strong sales leads over Christmas. But I don't think that constitutes the future arriving "with a bang", an "altered landscape" or proof that Cloud is "happening" in any widespread transformational sense.

The Cloud does not mean greater agility - Cloud is NOT a utility

skeptic — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:03:30 +0000

While I'm popping Cloud bubbles, let's talk about another couple: Cloud agility and Cloud as a utility.

Every Cloud has a silver bullet to kill the dreaded ITIL

skeptic — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:13:38 +0000

The Cloud is not sweeping away ITIL or IT Service Management. Every over-hyped fad claims the rules are different now and we don't have to worry about some basic fundamental that has always plagued us in the past. And every time it turns out to be crap. The rules are the same and have been ever since the Europeans over-traded tulips, probably much longer. Business needs management. Without management control, risk kills it. ITSM is the framework for management of IT. It articulates what we do for the customer. ITSM is basic IT, wherever it is running. Cloud may play on different instruments but the tune is the same. The detail of what we control changes. Even the way we control changes. but we still need the controls. So this beating up on ITIL isn't about Cloud really. It is about techs frustrated because they are not allowed to do what they like without supervision.

In defense of ITILista

skeptic — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:49:31 +0000

Apparently ITIL people are obstructing the Cloud. Once again the poor techno-geeks' creative brilliance is stifled by unnecessary process.

The top seven issues with Cloud Computing

skeptic — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:38:18 +0000

Why not? Everyone else has tried to list what they are, right after they tried to define what Cloud Computing is. My turn.

Does a cloud computing infrastructure obviate the need for IT Service Management systems?

skeptic — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:40:12 +0000

Does a cloud computing infrastructure obviate the need for IT Service Management systems? The IT Skeptic thinks not.

Cloud Common Sense

skeptic — Sun, 03 May 2009 09:39:09 +0000

In amongst all the vendor pimping and teenage overexcitement there are folk talking common sense about Cloud Computing. So I am hijacking this blog post that was originally just about the McKinesy report on Cloud and I'm transforming it into a thread of Cloud Common Sense, as picked by the IT Skeptic and you, gentle readers. Feel free to add your own picks but be warned: vendor hype or wide-eyed gushing will be treated mercilessly.

Operating the Cloud: the people and process questions

skeptic — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:18:11 +0000

Cloud computing is a popular topic right now. Some see it as a saviour technology for cost cutting but there is too much thought given to how you will connect at a technical level with a Cloud service provider. Just as important is how you will connect at a process level and at a business level. IT development and solutions staff are prone to waving these considerations away as an issue for the operations people and the “suits”, but the process and business considerations are more important than the technical ones.

Dreaming on a cloud - migration as an obstacle to cloud computing: an IT Skeptic Special Report

skeptic — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:25:58 +0000

The IT Skeptic will look closer at cloud computing in 2009 - the concept seems to need some skeptical scrutiny. Or rather the concept is a pointer to the future, but the vendor hype around the present seems on shakier ground. Quite simply the idea is impractical in most business contexts. It is yet another technical solution to a business problem. Such technical solutions to non-technical problems often don't solve the original problem at all, tend to introduce more of their own, and almost invariably introduce greater complexity to be managed, but IT loves them. They offer a silver bullet OOTB fix to take the pain away - hard to resist. So it is with The Cloud. Take for example migration of existing applications.