Mythbusting: Be A Trusted Advisor To Your Clients With The Truth Behind Cloud Myths

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

As your clients consider cloud computing options, be prepared to answer questions and provide the facts to help them make the best decisions for their companies. Gartner contributor Tom McCall highlights cloud myths, selecting some of the “most dangerous and misleading ones.”

The first myth on McCall’s list is that cloud computing always saves money. Gartner’s 2014 CIO Agenda survey shows that cost savings account for only 14 percent of the reasons for organizations’ use of the public cloud. Agility is actually the most common reason for migrating to the cloud, not finances. Saving money may end up one of the benefits, but it should not be taken for granted.

Other myths you need to combat is “it has to be cloud to be good” and “cloud should be used for everything.” As a trusted advisor, help your clients weigh all options in their decisions. McCall also says to make sure you avoid — and don’t perpetuate — “cloud washing,” or using the broad term “cloud” to describe other things like virtualization or automation. It creates confusion. Your clients could also believe migrating to the cloud means you automatically get all cloud characteristics. McCall’s blog is also a reminder to distinguish between applications hosted in the cloud from cloud services.

Your clients could also believe that when their data is migrated to the cloud they no longer need a data center — but data center outsourcing, data center modernization, and data center strategies are not synonymous or interchangeable with the cloud.

Some companies believe the myth that they need one cloud vendor, which could limit their options, and some do not have a defined cloud strategy moving forward because “the CEO said so.” Help your clients to create a proper cloud strategy that identifies business goals and maps the potential benefits against potential challenges in meeting them. McCall points out, in order to use the cloud as a means to an end, the end must first be specified. He adds the cloud is not all or nothing: “It is being adopted (and should be adopted) in steps and in specific cases.”

McCall says another myth is that cloud is less security than on-premises solutions. Business Solutions reports businesses that have more experience with the cloud are more confident in it, but that in general the perception that the cloud is not secure is decreasing. Share the facts with your clients, such as, says McCall, there have been few security breaches in the public cloud, but of course, remind clients to take appropriate security measures to protect data.

Gartner’s report “The Top 10 Cloud Myths,” may be accessed here.