For as long as technology has evolved, the working population has been concerned that their job will soon be turned to dust in favour of a quicker and automated solution. From the introduction of the loom back in the 19th century to automatic checkouts in supermarkets today, the fight between man and machine endures. Not so long ago it seemed that the discussion around cloud within the walls of the IT department at many organisations was “a no go area”. The cloud was perceived as a monster that once it got its wart-ridden hand into your IT world then your job was effectively going bye-bye. IT admins either tactfully veered away from conversations about cloud or, not so tactfully, explicitly refused to engage.
Today the landscape has changed. IT folks responsible for their organisation’s infrastructure no longer fear the cloud. In fact, many have embraced it for doing something they never thought possible - protecting their job instead of doing away with it. Why? With recent advancements in cloud technologies, cloud ultimately frees up IT teams to focus on activities that are core to growing the business, such as app development, DevOps and digital transformation. This is something that is becoming a fundamental goal for IT – continual innovation instead of simply keeping the lights on. Cloud enables IT to become a proactive force in an organisation. Using cloud for IT infrastructure cuts down on maintenance headaches and reduces capital expenses – not to mention all the soft cost reductions as well. But there are many cloud providers and many different clouds available and it becomes a question of finding the cloud that best fits your business and is easy to manage.
To be an integral part of an organisation’s growth strategy, IT departments have to become more agile and responsive to business needs. Our research conducted in conjunction with Forrester Research in June 2015 found that IT departments value the transparency and visibility they get into their cloud infrastructure resources, as this gives them control and management capabilities they never thought existed in the public cloud. Forecasting capabilities (found in the iland cloud services platform) are also tremendously useful for budgeting purposes and the avoidance of surprise bills. When the burden of managing IT infrastructure is relieved by cloud-based infrastructure that’s easy to control and very transparent, IT staff gain the opportunity to become significant contributors to an organisation’s bottom line. A recent study by Deloitte showed that in some sectors, including education and professional services, cloud technology has actually raised productivity and employment has risen at the same time, due to the easy access to information and the accelerating pace of communication. As the cloud tide gains momentum within IT departments everywhere, so the fear of job loss ebbs away as more folks embrace the cloud and the job security it promises for the future.
