Well it is true that the weather is not uniform around the world. Those
clouds that threaten us in midwest, just produce rain in Seattle.

Keep in mind that "cloud" is simply a marketing term. It developed without
strict industry definitions although NIST has tried to put it in a box.
"Cloud" crept into our reality primarily due to the downturn in the
economy. IT tried for years to convince executives that they should simply
place all their informaition into databases. Costs, trepidation, and court
decisions kept leap from being made. Once the revenue dried up in many
organiazations dried up the wedge was driven home. Municipalities for one,
saw it as the only way to satisfy a level of acceptable compliance. IT
convinced them that they could capture the records and maintain them within
the limited budget realities. The courts hadn't caught up to the tech and
Records Managers were not in the room. Audit is waiting for the end of the
process and budget people, with their view of the world dictated reality.

There remains today a need to continue cost savings. Many are looking at a
way to leverage the tech. Get into the "cloud" a much more limited and
controlled way. It reminds me of imaging. the eagerness of executives to
"go paperless" at the turn of the century. The fact that they could not
afford meant that they ended up with limited implementations. Typically
they captured the AP process, showingt the eventual benefit of pushing the
solution enterprise wide. The reality is that AP lendsitself very easily to
an imaging solution. Other processes not so much, without some or even
significant re-engineering. So we end up with limited or targeted
implementations in a "cloud" environment. It is sold by applaying a term
like hybrid.

If it is raining, the river is rising and your only recourse is drop
everything and build an Arc, build the Arc. If you build the Arc it means
you have accepted the fact that you are going to lose most of what you
have. On the other hand you are going to keep that which is most important
to your survival into the future. If all you need to do is start
sandbagging, losing time, sleep, and body wieight then sandbag. The risk is
that if you really need an Arc you lose everything. That is why executives
make the big bucks. "cloud" as a macro solution is the Arc. Sandbagging is
a way to ride it out. Putting some of your best stuff on barge and
sandbagging is a hybrid solution. Keep in mind, the line to the barge may
break, and even if it doesn't you still need to find a way to get that
stuff back into a sound shelter later. If the building it wa sin was broken
up to build the dike you will have no place to put it after the flood. Then
you will need to find resources to build a place to put it. Given it is on
a barge it will have a low priority after the fact.

If you apply "cloud" it should be as a last resort, not a first solution.

Chris Flynn
Keep your powder dry

On Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 9:09 AM, Dwight WALLIS <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Hugh, just to point out that "cloud computing" does not necessarily mean
> "public cloud computing". If an organization is using virtual servers, they
> are using cloud technology - in this instance, a private cloud. In many
> instances, cloud computing technology is utilized to distribute
> applications within an organization or group of organizations. For example,
> our State Archives is hosting TRIM utilizing public cloud technology and
> making it available to local and state agencies. I read recently in
> Government Technology where Orange County, Michigan is utilizing cloud
> technology in a similar manner, only offering it across jurisdictions
> nationally.
>
> The application of cloud technology in virtual servers is a huge money
> saver - we have seen reductions of $25K per year for maintenance of a
> dedicated server down to approximately $5-$10K per year for a virtual
> server. Note that these virtual servers can still be backed up in the same
> manner a traditional server would be backed up - cloud technology simply
> utilizes resources efficiently across multiple platforms in an easily
> scalable manner that reacts to demand, as opposed to utilizing one
> dedicated platform. A good analogy is the electrical grid, which
> distributes resources in a similar manner.
>
> Generally speaking, public cloud technology that is hosted by an external
> partner (which appears to be the primary concern you raise) is being used
> for specific applications: for example, employee applications (NeoGov), or
> email (Google Apps). Your concerns are legitimate in these environments, as
> the information generated by the given application is generally maintained
> by the cloud provider (although it can be extracted in many cases). In my
> opinion, this particular public cloud technology is currently the
> technology we need to monitor closely for the potential of catastrophic
> obsolescence - similar to the kind of rapid obsolescence early optical disk
> systems were prone to. I think provider stability is a critical factor.
>
> Public cloud technology is not being used as often for storage (at least by
> businesses) - that is generally being maintained in house in a virtual
> (private cloud) environment. This is one of the reasons why Iron Mountain's
> efforts in this did not pan out. Most organizations, like Multnomah County,
> are in fact utilizing hybrid clouds - selected use of public cloud for
> certain applications, and use of private cloud technology for sensitive,
> mission critical applications and storage.
>
> Just wanted to clarify that all clouds are not the same, and that most of
> the use of cloud technology right now is occurring "in-house".
>
> --
> Dwight Wallis, CRM
> Multnomah County Records Management Program
> 1620 SE 190th Avenue
> Portland, OR 97233
> ph: (503)988-3741
> fax: (503)988-3754
> [log in to unmask]
>
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