Cloud Computing: Only Works as Well as Your Organization Manages It

By: Kevin Smilie, Partner, CIO Services

Cloud computing is changing the way IT leaders deliver IT services and value to their customers. As companies learn about the value of the cloud through pilot projects, they gain insight into the technology, its commercial benefits, and see firsthand the changes that must be made to fully take advantage of the cloud. I recently wrote an article on this topic for the Cloud Computing Journal  outlining the ways to maximize the benefits of cloud computing.

In my view, the key to achieving these benefits is with an integrated, centralized IT Service Management (ITSM) system dedicated to demand management, capacity management, and service integration – service management functions that are typically less important to organizations than the simpler service desk and incident management tasks.

As cloud computing continues to change how IT services are delivered, it will be increasingly important to emphasize the need for strong service management and governance frameworks.