Cloud computing governance must improve

The independent technology analyst has warned in a new report, Cloud governance: an overview that cloud governance is suffering from the same flaws that are affecting other IT governance areas.

Ovum believes a new approach is needed as cloud computing, the latest in a series of disruptive trends affecting IT departments, cannot thrive without an effective governance framework that promotes and ensures coordination between IT teams.

Laurent Lachal, Ovum senior analyst and report author, said: "Most IT governance efforts are prompted by new regulations or by the need to keep up with uncontrolled SOA software services, virtual machines or public cloud services - whereby governance starts when the public cloud bill is much higher than expected.

"The use of public clouds is a good example of that. Despite growing interest in IT transitioning from managing technology to providing technology as a service, neither business nor IT executives have been particularly proactive in managing the various changes that such a transition requires at all levels."

Cost and quality of service issues are critical

Cloud computing makes IT governance more difficult by introducing an additional layer of complexity that businesses need to control in order to make the most of its benefits. Cloud governance best practices - like cloud computing itself - are still in their infancy and Ovum believes the focus should, in future, be on enabling flexibility.

"Public as well as private clouds' ability to make it faster and easier to procure, develop, deploy and hardware and software assets will make the biggest difference. Cost and quality of service issues are critical but cloud computing governance should not over emphasize them at the expense of enabling firms to strike the right balance between effectiveness and innovation", said Lachal.

"Cloud governance is not just about control and keeping an eye on individuals to make sure that they behave as expected. It should also be about empowerment, based on a realignment of objectives and incentives to encourage behavioral change."

Ovum does not expect a 'big bang' implementation of cloud governance, but rather a gradual build-up that provides an opportunity to launch and/or reinvigorate other governance efforts.