07.29.10

The ROI of Cloud Computing?

Posted in Cloud Computing, Disruptive Technologies, Project Management at 6:18 am by Administrator

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If the world is all about projects, then cloud computing should have a well-defined ROI. Every project is about money and every project should stand on its own. But, is cloud computing just a project? Does it actually stand on its own?

Cloud computing for SaaS (Software as a Service) is often treated as just a project. The ROI is done just like any other project except the resources required may be very different. With SaaS, a solution can be selected and utilized almost immediately. The up-front cost is minimal and the variable cost is directly related to usage. It can be easily sold when there is no or very little need to integrate data flows with other private systems.

When the need turns to PaaS (Platform as a Service), the ROI may come from the ability to complete the development work for one or more projects more quickly. For organizations that already have a development environment, it may be more difficult to justify a replacement. For startups or smaller organizations, cloud computing may be the only realistic approach and make preparing an ROI non-event.

The adoption of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) may be more difficult to show in an ROI. The difficulty comes from thinking of IaaS from a project perspective. It is more like outsourcing the data center than completing one project. The primary benefits come from the ability to have guaranteed Service Level Agreements.

As an Enterprise Architect, I contend that cloud computing is not about projects. It is about services. It is about the services needed by an organization to deliver the services that they provide to their customers. There should be high-level models developed that define these services. These models should include the services offered externally, the references to services needed externally, and the value-added services provided internally. These models then become the roadmap for determining the transition to cloud computing.

Taking the Enterprise Architect’s view, cloud computing is more about maintaining a cohesion of an organization’s data and processes. It is about adopting the standards needed to keep that cohesion intact. It is not about individual projects. It is not about ROI. It is about an organization providing the best services possible to its customers.

Closing the Business / IT gap.

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