I have been focusing on the "cloud" a lot lately. I know most CIOs are. There are some basic misunderstandings about the cloud.

Cloud Misunderstandings

1. Misunderstanding - The cloud is the same as SaaS. Reality - SaaS is about shared application space. It is likely that an SaaS provider may be considering the cloud for hosting. This would give them the same basic benefits of the cloud - optimized cost/availability/capacity infrastructure. The cloud provides capacity aligned with utilization without a need to build out CapEX for burst capacity. The cloud is useful for custom application owners/developers.
2. Misunderstanding - The cloud has different management questions. Reality - The same questions apply that have pervaded IT since the 50's. a) What is my required capacity going to cost and how do I plan, monitor, and manage for this? b) How do I predict, monitor and manage performance and availability?
3. Misunderstanding - I don't need any production environment, I can move everything to the third party managed cloud. Reality - It is likely that you will need some production environment. Here are some questions. Can you place all of your data in the cloud or will you need to leave some of it near other applications? How much data needs to be transferred to and from the cloud? Do you need a PCI certified environment? Are you satisfied with the load balancing options available to you in the cloud? Each application moved to the cloud requires an individual assessment for the cost savings and functional requirements.