You’ve
probably seen the term, or heard it bantered about by geeks, or maybe your head
is in it… but you may not fully understand the term “cloud” or “SasS” (software
as a service) or perhaps just think its another catchy marketing acronym like
MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server).
The “cloud”
refers to cloud computing that at the risk of over-simplifying is simply
hosting – computer, server, software, and other hardware and infrastructure
hosting. You’re already a cloud customer, probably many times over (someone is
hosting your email, website, blog, etc. In fact, 56% of internet users use
webmail services such as Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo! Mail – hosted email in the cloud).
In short, hosting is provided as a service over the Internet. SaaS is simply hosted software that could include your website content management system, search engine, CRM (Salesforce.com), etc. The cloud is merely a metaphor based loosely on those computer network diagrams that so cleverly depict little computers with wires running between each other, servers, firewalls, etc.
I was
recently pressed on the subject of a “hosted intranet” and why an organization
shouldn’t outsource their intranet to “the cloud.” God forbid we let
professionals who know what they’re doing maintain our second-rate,
after-though, cost-center of an intranet!
It is
baffling to me that the intranet isn’t hosted externally for more organizations.
Well, I’m well versed with clueless executives with knee-jerk reactions around “security”,
privacy, and “the way things have always been done” but I guess I’m naïve to
have faith that more would start to embrace the 21st century. If these dolts
can Facebook then surely there’s hope, right?
The
biggest obstacle blocking the migration of more intranets to the cloud is
culture and fear of the ‘unknown’. If the host has proper security does it
matter if it’s hosted elsewhere? We do our banking online now – we can’t access
the intranet over the Internet?! Most of our benefits and compensation systems
are now hosted elsewhere in the cloud – we’re talking about people’s pay,
insurance and benefits!
In fact, if
it costs me less money and I don't have to worry about the maintenance then you
better believe I choose hosted – and I have told clients the same. Its one of
the reasons the "cloud" is expanding so fast. It would be 10 times
the size if people would just get beyond the knee-jerk reaction to have
everything in-house where it costs more, and probably enjoys less security than
the top of the line that many hosts employ.
The
downside to avoiding the cloud can be far more expensive: I have one client (identity
protected) who spent well more than $1 million on a new intranet design and
platform and it crashed in the first few minutes, never to go live again
because the organization didn’t have the proper infrastructure. One-and-one-half
years later, the intranet is still not live. This would never have happened had
it been turned over to a host. Instead, millions of dollars have been lost, and
countless thousands of employee hours.
Has your
organization embraced the cloud, or are you wasting valuable time and skills on
hosting and maintenance?
--
NEXT
WEBINAR:
What do
the best intranets look like? What are the best practices and principles for
redesigning an intranet? Having designed and re-designed dozens of intranet
sites (and websites), Prescient Digital Media’s Toby Ward and Catherine Elder
will draw on their experiences to provide best practices in approaching
intranet design.
Reserve
your spot for: Intranet
Design – A Business Approach to a Winning Design