Patrick,

Your point about the importance of information governance is a good one.  Organizations need a clear understanding of their information governance policies and procedures.  Also, however, records managers need to consider not only what they do in the organization but where their efforts fit into the organizational needs as a whole so they are better able to advocate for the importance of their requirements in the organizational information requirements as a whole.

I would not agree, however, that cloud computing means either that you are stuck with one size fits all contracts or with the end of customization of IT.  For *any* vendor outsourcing agreement, the vendor begins the negotiation with a standard contract.  The stress in that sentence should be the word "begins."  When engaged in any outsourcing contract process (not just cloud outsourcing), the buyer must ensure that he/she understands the nature of what is being provided, the value AND risks of the services, and engages in negotiation to ensure the organization gets what it needs.   In order to ensure that the risks and values are appropriately considered will require increasing reliance on appropriate information governance policies.  With respect to customization, there is no reason why customization cannot occur in cloud environments.  It is important to remember that the majority of cloud implementations rely on layering of services.  With a large scale cloud implementation, a number of different services are actually implemented.  When going the public cloud route, this means you have to be very careful to understand how many providers are actually in your supply chain and to make sure they all meet your requirements.  When going public, private, or hybrid, one also needs to make sure IT provides appropriate interoperability between systems and services.  Although it may appear (and is the case), that cloud allows significant numbers of IT personnel to be dropped from payrolls (or as is more commonly the case in today's economy, allows IT departments to provide needed services with the already-significantly-reduced IT staffing levels), some argue that cloud computing actually is heralding an age of increased importance for IT departments, since they will need to play a significant role in assessing and managing information governance structures in the highly distributed computing environments of the future.  ("Cloud" is just the beginning; even greater managerial integration and physical distribution of reso
urces will characterize "post-cloud" computing arrangements.)

At the level of government (and from what I've read, in the private sector as well), the increasing trend is toward private/hybrid clouds that allow individual public cloud services (or in-house services) to be built on top of the computing resources that are owned and operated internally.  The allows a great deal of customization, but at the same time requires increasing sophistication in how information governance should and will be performed.

Lori Richards

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Patrick Cunningham
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2012 5:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subject: Bye Bye Box Vendors, Hello Cloud – Google Drive’s Big Threat | SiliconANGLE

Cloud computing is to IT as commercial records centers are to records management. All of the things that people hate about commercial records centers are often found in "cloud" providers. One size fits all contracts, security questions, unwillingness to assume liability, changes to business process to the provider's "standard", etc. And the best one... "You don't need IT to do this." For me, since my team has to evaluate the risks involved in these deals, it is deja vu all over again. The only thing cloud providers haven't figured out yet are hostage fees.

I do engage in a bit of hyperbole there, but the advent of cloud means that the customization of IT and other technology-related business processes is coming to an end. The user interface might get jazzed up, but the underlying process has to be a standard offer. The theory is that should yield lower costs. And just like commercial records centers, it takes IT out of the real estate business.

This, folks, is why you ought to start thinking about information governance and where you fit in. The buses are loading up.

 
Patrick Cunningham, CRM, CIP, FAI
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"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."
-- Colin Powell

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