How Cloud Computing Affects IT Departments and IT Staff

How Cloud Computing Affects IT Departments and IT Staff

Cloud computing is a technology with a huge potential we still don’t use to the fullest. With all the benefits cloud computing offers to IT departments of all sizes. It is commonly considered a technology that can help companies cope. With infrastructure challenges and the lack of qualified staff.

Cloud computing will (and already has) affect (ed) IT departments and IT staff. The potential of cloud computing can’t be denied but we shouldn’t regard it as a cure-all technology. In other words, it is not realistic to expect (or fear). Cloud computing will solve at once all infrastructure and staffing issues in IT departments.

Dependency on the Provider

Yet, cloud computing does affect the everyday life of the average IT department. For instance, fears of vendor lock-in are common among IT executives. It is obvious that a cloud requires a lot of investment for small cloud service providers. The amount of money required to enter this market is sort of prohibitive. This in turn could lead to a situation. Where only large companies operate clouds. Which will not only give users of cloud services any choice. It will make them dependent on large cloud computing vendors.

In a sense, this looks like a vicious circle – when you use cloud computing services. Your hands aren’t tied because you can’t find skilled personnel. But you become more dependent on vendors and on cloud computing providers. It is difficult to say which of the two options is worse.

While it is too early to panic that cloud computing has turned you into a hostage of vendors’ dictate. One of the more eminent fears related to cloud computing is that the cloud will eat jobs.

Will Cloud Computing Eat IT Jobs?

A couple of years ago lack of qualified IT staff was a hot issue. But now, when the economy has been going down and down year after year. With no chances of improvement in the near future. fears that cloud computing will cause further loss of IT jobs are not groundless.

When an IT department uses the services of a cloud computing provider. This means the volume of the in-house workload drops. This in turn leads to fewer people needed to service this volume.

In better economic times, this wouldn’t be a problem. When fewer people are needed, those who are not in demand anymore will simply look for a new job and there is no drama. But now, when finding any new job, not to mention a better one, is kind of hard. Any hints of possible downsizing and headcount reductions cause fears.

Yes, if a company's IT department increases the use of cloud computing. This will lead to decreased demand for personnel and will allow to shrink of the IT department. However, as experience shows, there are always people who are needed on-site to be a point of contact. When problems with third parties (in this case the providers of cloud computing services) occur. So it is not probable that the whole IT department will be laid off.

Cloud Computing Is Still to Peak

It is hard to predict how cloud computing will develop soon. And beyond but it looks like even if there are headcount reductions. The cloud will hardly be the main reason for that. Cloud computing is still at its peak and there are many companies that still don’t rely heavily on it.

Additionally, cloud computing as a technology has many limitations. They can’t be solved overnight. In the last few years when cloud computing has been gaining ground. It proved that any expectations/fears of a potential IT job loss. Because cloud computing is ungrounded.

For many types of applications cloud computing is inapplicable. Because of a myriad of reasons. Starting from security issues, reliability concerns, and in some cases even price. Therefore, cloud computing can’t be considered a huge threat to IT department employees. Well, when you lose your job, it isn’t much of a comfort this happened. Because of the crash of the stock exchange and not because of cloud computing but for now. Cloud computing doesn’t look like that much of a danger.

Cloud Computing Could Help to Save IT Jobs in Companies

What is more, for many companies cloud computing could be the lifebelt. If you have already invested (at least partially) in new infrastructure. You have a lot of free capacity. Now you can offer your services to companies that haven’t done. The same and which now, despite the drop in volume of their work, are looking for affordable offers.

The option to become a cloud computing provider is more viable for a data center. Rather than an ordinary company still it exists. If the company decides to expand. Its activities are in the direction of offering. Cloud computing services to external organizations. This will need hiring new people and training them. Integrating them within the existing teams. In this case, it is quite likely to witness an increase in the headcount, rather than layoffs.

There isn’t a single answer to the question of how cloud computing will affect IT departments and personnel. For some IT departments, cloud computing might be bad news. While for others it might be the way out of a tough situation.

In any case, cloud computing has slowly but surely won its place in IT and this happened sooner than we expected. Anyway, cloud computing is not that bad, and once its issues are sorted out. Or at least reduced to an acceptable level. Cloud computing will be used in many more enterprises, so the sooner one is prepared for that, the better.

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