Cloud Computing and Corporate Culpability

Re: Cloud Computing Security Risks and Accountability for Loss of Data, Breach of Privacy and Other Violations

I am not a lawyer. I don't play one on television. And after my last divorce, I have no motivation to further enrich any member of the legal profession. Nevertheless, my first and best advice to any American business executive considering "cloud computing", "SaaS" or "PaaS" as cost-cutting solutions in recessionary times is GET THEE TO AN ATTORNEY!

Regardless of who wins the White House next Tuesday--Oblabla and the Mouth, or Geezer and Gidget--and no matter what remuda of Republocrats controls our Congress thereafter, the recently exposed excesses of Wall Street's Bonus Buccaneer CEOs guarantee increased scrutiny and accountability for executives at all levels and in all arenas, including and perhaps especially that of the CIO. In such a charged political environment, any harm, damage, loss or breach of HIPAA or other privacy mandates attributable to corporate decisions to outsource sensitive information for bottom-line benefit is likely to have repercussions that go far beyond reversing any perceived savings. And when time comes for the ax to fall in the boardroom--or worse, the gavel in the courtroom--rest assured that your cries to blame the Data Manager in Mumbai will fall on deaf ears.

Bruce Arnold, Miami Web Designer
http://WebDesignMiami.PervasivePersuasion.com

Interesting view, but confusing.

Enterprise Mashups. What they *do* is help organisations cut costs and improve efficiencies, especially in the field of customer service.

Enterprise Mashups are the only effective way to build, deliver and manage fit for purpose business applications to multiple user groups across the organisation.

Check out the various Mashup groups on LinkedIn to get another view...

Toby

Sorry James, I think you have this one wrong. First, I've been lucky enough to meet many of the gartner analysts, and everyone I've met has been very bright - most of their opinions are based on data and research that gartner has conducted. It is arrogant to assume that you know better.

Question - if you were a bank, and your customer service organization cost you 100 million dollars a year, what would you spend to cut that cost in half? Many "Web 2.0" portals are used to push customers to self-service. Additionally, according to another research firm forester, those customers perceive a higher service quality from highly usable portals.

So, imagine you are the CEO of this bank - would you spend 25 million on an IT effort that saved you 50 million this year, and every year going forward? Now add in that your customers' perception of your bank significantly improves. How attractive is that 25 million spend now?

To use your example - K-Mart's IT department could create a dashboard to track weather, truck-maintenance schedules, employee vacation time and traffic conditions to more accurately predict truck deliveries -

All "Web 2.0" really does is give us a broader set of tools to create better software, and there is almost always an ROI in that!

"Gartner is ... stupid". Wow, I feel like I'm back in the fourth grade. It's sad to see a representative of a publication like SOA World Magazine engage in such a pathetically transparent attempt at trolling. Clean up your act and I'd love to debate the merits. Anyone interested in Gartner's top 10 list may want to visit my blog at http://blogs.gartner.com/david_cearley/