IT Toolbox conducted a web study of CIO's to understand their proclivity for purchasing cloud-based ERP systems. For me, the findings were somewhat surprising, for it indicates that there is still uncertainty and doubt that a cloud-based ERP will provide the stable platform and confidence in performance that you'd get from an on-premise system.
But I think it goes beyond that. There are 3 manifestations of the cloud that can be used for hosting an application: public cloud (like Amazon), private cloud (like an ASP/Application Solution Provider) or hybrid cloud (mix of the two). The concerns of the CIO's in this instance seem to be fixated on the downsides of a public cloud. This makes sense, because a public cloud normally has multiple tenancy (ie, more than one entity using it at any time) and so you must deal with bandwidth, uptime, and oftentimes, security. But a private cloud avoids all of those pitfalls. So for me, it's a matter of education.
The cloud does not equal the internet. It is infrastructure, software, and platform. And there are multiple ways of addressing to ensure that uptime, security, and reliability are not in question. It's no different than having a bank of servers in your facility. Sometimes, things happen...
Invensys has been working with Microsoft now for almost a year to bring cloud-based industrial solutions to market: reporting, storage and analysis. So it's interesting that the hesitancy we heard from customers a year ago still exists. Hopefully, with continuing education, customer successes, and economic benefits, we won't have the same discussions in another year!
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