Will you follow the lemmings or lead your herd?

Gartner has predicted a 19 percent growth in the cloud computing industry for 2012, which would see the sector swell from a value of $91 billion to $109 billion.

Although a seemingly high figure, trends towards software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) certainly provide some understanding as to where this growth will come from.

In fact, Gartner expects IaaS to see the highest growth in the cloud space with an expected revenue increase of 41 percent, while security trails behind with a 27.2 percent rise.

Having recently posted on the subject of the changing role of the company CIO, based on the shift in IT budgets, the Gartner predictions certainly corroborate the assertions made in the post that the role of the CIO will become one of greater importance, rather than a seat at the board room table that will cease to exist.

Firstly, one has to wonder how much of the trend towards cloud spend comes from the fact that companies are just feeling the pressure to follow the crowd: the lemming effect.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach in this space, which makes it vital that there is someone at the helm who fully understands the technology.

Secondly, as the cloud sector develops, and the opportunities become increasingly diverse and relevant to a company’s IT infrastructure, the role of the CIO as a collaborator and strategist becomes even more important.

Understanding the needs of every department and how those needs can be met with, what will often be, an integrated approach to technology will sit on the shoulders of the CIO.

So, when considering Gartner’s predictions, one must think about how much of this increased spend will come from companies struggling to make sense of the rapidly evolving IT landscape, adopting cloud-based models because that is what they feel they should do rather than knowing that is what they need for the good of the organization.

The question is, will you follow the lemmings or lead your herd?

GlassHouse

GlassHouse Technologies is a global provider of data center infrastructure consulting and managed services. GlassHouse partners with customers to define and execute data center strategies, and operate their environment, helping clients address the complexities of cloud, virtualization, storage, backup, security and next generation data centers. Our constant focus is on cost efficiency, risk mitigation and service improvement, delivered through our unique model comprised of proprietary software tools, methodologies and domain expertise. GlassHouse is uniquely “vendor independent” in that we do not sell vendor’s products, enabling us to provide objective analysis and recommendations. The depth and breadth of our expertise has been developed through more than 17,500 engagements with more than 12,000 clients. Be sure to visit us on Twitter @GlassHouse_Tech.

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