Click Like An Analyst: Cloud Caution

Only so many articles will fit in a single issue of our Read Like An Analyst newsletter. But it seemed such a shame to let the rest of our analysts’ submissions of tech industry think pieces, critiques and predictions go to waste. And so, the Click Like an Analyst series was born. Each post shares a handful of links that center on a single B2B tech sector topic.

Below, Cascade Insights Research Analyst Harrison May shares what Cascade Insights is reading and thinking about the cloud:

If I had a penny for every time the word “cloud” was mentioned in an interview, I would be able to fund the research and development of a fully operational Battlestar Galactica.

For all the hype the it’s getting, we hear from a surprising number of people who say they’re not ready to start using the public or private cloud.

We have heard every excuse in the book as to why cloud deployments aren’t the right fit. Those excuses all boil down to one common theme: immaturity.

How could this be? A quick Google search pulls up scores of articles declaring that enterprise cloud adoption is growing faster than ever before.

However, outside of software and technology, many industries aren’t convinced the service has matured enough. Just because Netflix and Spotify are jumping completely to the cloud does not mean that hospitals and banks are ready to.

This is reflected in our interviews. We talk with software or tech professionals and everyone is taking advantage of what the cloud has to offer. But the conversation changes drastically as soon as we start talking to an IT manager outside of web/SaaS companies.

Underneath the mountain of Google results on how cloud adoption is on the rise, there are some standout pieces with deeper insight. Here are a few:

Amazon is trying its best to prove to the world that the AWS platform can securely handle enterprise operations. The company is showcasing how Netflix, Intuit, Juniper and 17 other companies have committed to shutting down their datacenters to fully run on AWS.
What does VMWare have to do with AWS, Azure, Google, and SoftLayer? It’s no surprise that the virtualization king is putting itself at the front and center of the cloud migration scene through partnerships with IBM and new NSX features for enterprises looking to securely communicate with public clouds like AWS and Microsoft Azure.
The ability to move certain CAPEX into OPEX is a common motivator for cloud migrations. John Dix, editor-in-chief of Network World, explains why some firms may lose this ability due to a recent rule change by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
Who has the most say in what the future of cloud platforms will look like? GigaSpaces Founder and CTO Nati Shalom says that developers, not management, will drive the future of cloud platforms.
Healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing are not the only slow adopters of new technologies. Phil Britt dives into the “Love/I’m not sure yet relationship” that retailers have with the cloud.

For more curated tech sector stories, subscribe to the Read Like An Analyst newsletter.

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Sean Campbell

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Sean Campbell is the CEO of Cascade Insights, a competitive intelligence and market research firm for B2B technology companies. A 20-year technology veteran, Sean oversees the health of the firm, drives the company’s thought leadership efforts and maintains relationships with key clients.