Even the Cloud needs a Strategy
It was bound to happen. New workers and older workers that have adopted a multitude of apps on their smartphone are solving their own problems at work by Googling for an app and then signing up for it. They then tell the people around them that need something similar and thus 3-4 people are now using that app. Then it happens again and again and again in different departments, by different employees all over the company.
Sound familiar? Then your cloud strategy and therefore your business data strategy is "every man for himself". That's never been a successful way to run a business.
At this point in the game, if your business is well established then you need to have a Cloud Integration Strategy. This strategy needs to bring the advantages of the cloud into your existing local environment. Everything should work together and enhance one another. No application should be an island and your workers should be empowered by your technology not limited under it.
If your business is new, then you need a Cloud Integration Strategy of a different sort. You need to adopt a cloud system under which all of your applications current and future are going to work together.
But no matter what you both need a strategy. You need to connect with someone whose job it is to keep a pulse on what's happening in this rapidly changing landscape of applications and clouds. You need to know who is leading the popularity contest and who is winning the technology advancement contest and make sure that you're on the winning team so you don't lead your business down a dead end.
The medium in which IT operates may have changed but the importance of having someone on your side who understands where things are headed and can get your business strategy matched up with your IT strategy hasn't been this significant since the world changed from Room sized mainframes to desktop PC's. Businesses needed IT leadership to pick the winners and move at the right pace then and they need it now too.
I couldn’t agree more Amy! The seeming ubiquity of personal IT devices has created a Wild-Wild-West atmosphere for users; the firms they work for have been dragged into it, probably most times, without realizing it. The continuing expansion of security risks throughout our worldwide IT infrastructure leaves those with not prepared for it vulnerable. Even those who are preparing for it and have taken measures to keep their security tight are still exposed to new exploits that are being developed daily. There truly appears to be a classic good-versus-evil character to the struggle for individuals and organizations to maintain the security of their operations. With all of the interconnectedness through the Internet, it can be frightening to not know how extensive it might be. Enjoyed your post. John Barton, formerly of Detroit, MI (East Grand Nursing Home :-) ), now of Ninety Six, SC