Gartner Says by 2020 "Cloud Shift" Will Affect More Than $1 Trillion in IT Spending

IT Asset Managers Must Identify Risks and Opportunities and Adjust Vendor Management Styles

Analysts to Explore the Impact of Cloud at the Gartner IT Financial, Procurement & Asset Management Summits 2016 in London, U.K. 12-13 September and Grapevine, Texas 19-21 September

More than $1 trillion in IT spending will be directly or indirectly affected by the shift to cloud during the next five years, said Gartner, Inc. This will make cloud computing one of the most disruptive forces of IT spending since the early days of the digital age.

"Cloud-first strategies are the foundation for staying relevant in a fast-paced world," said Ed Anderson, research vice president at Gartner. "The market for cloud services has grown to such an extent that it is now a notable percentage of total IT spending (see Table 1), helping to create a new generation of start-ups and "born in the cloud" providers."

IT spending is steadily shifting from traditional IT offerings to cloud services (cloud shift). The aggregate amount of cloud shift in 2016 is estimated to reach $111 billion, increasing to $216 billion in 2020. Cloud shift rates are determined by comparing IT spending on cloud services with traditional noncloud services in the same market categories (see Table 1).

In addition to the direct effects of cloud shift, many markets will be affected indirectly. Identifying indirect effects can help IT asset and purchasing managers ensure they are getting the best value out of new expenditure and are protected against risk, as well as assisting them to exploit the new opportunities caused by cloud shift.

For example, instead of buying operating systems (OSs) for each user in the traditional way, many will be provided as OS images — particularly with the use of containers for next-generation applications. Another example is that enterprise storage needs could be met with a lower up front cost and far more scalability by switching to cloud solutions instead of buying dedicated hardware.

"Cloud shift is not just about cloud. As organizations pursue a new IT architecture and operating philosophy, they become prepared for new opportunities in digital business, including next-generation IT solutions such as the Internet of Things," said Mr. Anderson. "Furthermore, organizations embracing dynamic, cloud-based operating models position themselves better for cost optimization and increased competitiveness."

Source: Gartner

"The Puppy under the CRM Tree" from Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com created an event very similar to Christmas Mornings for its loyal customers.

Here is what Salesforce.com blog says in the blog:

Service Cloud features magically appeared like the proverbial puppy under the Christmas tree. Admins were able to log in and much like the child running down the stairs in their PJs on Christmas morning, logged in to Salesforce with wide-eyed wonder to find treats of all kinds: Console, Omni, Macros, Entitlements, Case Feed. Bonus gifts for UE customers or Live Agent & Knowledge. But in order to ensure that the puppy does not end up in the dog pound a week after Christmas, Salesforce.com now have a bunch of options to ensure that their customers are enabled with the instructions around how to get the most out of their gifts.

Here are some unassisted and assisted puppy management options:

Trailhead

Service Cloud Basics

Service Console Customization

Case Feed Basics

Entitlement Management

Community Cloud Basics

Launchpad

Accelerators

Partners

Success.salesforce.com

So Salesforce.com now have "a boat load of options, both unassisted and assisted, that can be leveraged to ensure your success. That puppy has a name. Her name is Service. She's a golden retriever pup with a purple collar. And now more than ever, it is easier than ever for customers to play with Service."

The new guidance on cloud use in Singapore financial instituitions

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will set out its "expectations on the use of cloud computing services" by financial institutions (FIs), the regulator has confirmed.

Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore minister for trade and industry and MAS deputy chairman made the announcement at a banking industry dinner last week. "MAS recognises cloud services can offer various benefits such as scalability and advanced functionalities, and is amenable to banks leveraging on cloud services to fulfil their business and operational needs," the minister said. "MAS expects banks to ensure that their risk management measures are commensurate with the nature, scope and complexity of the cloud deployment models that they adopt."

In his speech Lim Hng Kiang said that the new guidance on cloud use would update existing guidance on outsourcing that MAS produced in 2004. The guidelines will place "a greater emphasis on safeguarding customer information" and also put "a greater focus on FIs’ outsourcing risk management framework", he said. "MAS views seriously the responsibility of banks to safeguard the integrity and security of customer information held by the bank and its service providers," he said. "To enhance the protection of critical customer information, outsourcing arrangements involving certain customer information will be subject to a higher standard of care." "FIs were previously expected to pre-notify MAS of any material outsourcing arrangements, and MAS would impose prudential requirements on the FI, where necessary. With the growing prevalence and complexity of outsourcing arrangements, such a case-by-case approach has become less tenable. Instead, MAS will continue to assess and monitor the robustness of FIs’ outsourcing risk management frameworks while FIs will continue to be responsible for ensuring the safety of all of their outsourcing arrangements. The revised guidelines will no longer require FIs to pre-notify MAS of any outsourcing arrangements."

Bryan Tan of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint venture partner of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "Banks in Singapore have been very conservative in cloud adoption. There have been recent moves to develop standards and guidelines for cloud users and service providers in Singapore such as the multi-tier cloud security standard, and cloud outage and incident response guidelines – the MAS guidelines will provide more guidance for financial institutions going to the cloud."

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore recently issued guidelines on cloud outage incident response (COIR) to help cloud providers and the businesses that use their services to manage data breaches in line with the country's data protection regime.

Source: Singapore monetary authority plans cloud computing policy