I've been working with system administrators since the 80s. I've seen a lot of the changes they have gone through. Software as a Service (SaaS) has been around for a while now and has really helped to change the workday for administrators. By moving specific applications to a SaaS model, admins have been able to eliminate busy role work like backing up systems or recovering Exchange servers. Moving HR, sales force, and finance applications to SaaS meant that admins got time back in their day to find new ways to help grow the business, secure it, and implement the latest technologies.
Change is coming again and this time it's fueled by Cloud computing and enabled by virtual machine technology. As consumers, we've become the "instant gratification generation". You can print your boarding pass, buy books or shoes, and do all your banking online without help from anyone. We want that level of autonomy for everything we touch. The end user community is tired of waiting for IT to provision a new server or application. They want more control. And, as they demonstrated with SaaS, these folks aren't shy about bypassing IT to get what they want.
IT should immediately look at providing its services in a more Cloud-like fashion. With virtualization, machines and applications can be provisioned more quickly and services can be migrated to match the ebb and flow of bandwidth needs. Not all services or applications make sense for the Cloud. IT understands the workloads and workflows and can provide the data to make good business decisions. IT can lead the Cloud revolution in several areas, including:
o Evaluating the Cloud and determining if it should be part of your business strategy
o Translating end user "need" into delivery/architecture -- what are the workloads and workflows
o Evaluate the Cloud providers -- Are they sound financially? Do they have sufficient infrastructure to support your business? Will they be around next month or next year?
o Monitor SLAs -- performance, secure delivery, reliability
And most importantly, IT departments will be required to backup the Cloud provider. Who gets the call when there is an outage? What happens if you have to bring services or applications back in house?
Some IT departments aren't thrilled with the idea of putting more control in the hands of their end user customers. Administrators don't have to fear Cloud computing. But they have to embrace it or be left in the dust.


