The CIO round table conference on Cloud was held on the 22nd of February 2013 at The Pride, Pune together by BlazeClan Technologies and CIO Specialist. The first of more to come, it was an event that aimed at getting CIOs and IT leaders from various industries to a common platform and to get their thoughts on cloud computing in the industry.
The cloud is still young and this event was held with a view to provide a forum where issues and queries around the cloud can be addressed and experiences of working with cloud can be shared.
The Guests and speakers included Mr. Sharat Airani ( Chief – IT ) of Forbes Marshall, Mr Sunil Patil (Director) from SITM (Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management), Mr. Sridhar Saranathan ( AVP – IT ) of Vodafone India, Mr. Dilip Itterya (CEO) of Akion Labs, Mr. George Thomas Kalacherry ( Head of Global Delivery ) of Bilcare Technologies
Mr Varoon Rajani, President – Cloud Consulting, from BlazeClan Technologies and Mr. DD Mishra, founder at CIO Specialist were there as moderators and cloud experts.
IT leaders from various industries at the CIO Round Table discussion IT leaders from various industries at the CIO Round Table discssion
The CIOs present were from companies in different industries which helped to understand different viewpoints and perceptions of cloud. George Thomas and Dilip Itterya had had previous experience with cloud implementation and shared their experiences. The speakers felt that lack of exploration of cloud is leading to myths and misconceptions, discouraging people from considering cloud as a solution. The adoption of cloud is seen to be comparatively slower in India as compared to other countries.
Mr Sunil Patil was of the opinion that the technology is still in the early phases and there is bound to be some resistance. Others felt that it could be lack of trust in technology.
Another point that came up during the discussion was how to get companies and firms to turn to cloud for IT solutions and how to make the company’s management see the cost-effectiveness in it. Showing them the benefit in cloud computing by explaining it to them in a simple and clear manner was thought to be the starting point of familiarising them with cloud.
Solutions to suit smaller businesses, providing technology in the local language of the people and practical ways to “save the dollar” would be the way for cloud providers to proceed. It was also felt that it is likely that people from in-house IT teams, afraid of their job profile becoming unnecessary to their company due to cloud adoptin, could be discouraging their organizations from considering cloud.
There might be issues about the fact that the location where data is stored, using cloud, is unknown. People are uncertain about the kind of security the data can have.
The discussion progressed to the points that would make people interested in cloud, like the fact that it provides a new kind of business model, the lower costs, greater ROI and different features that make cloud. It was agreed that whether to sell cloud or to increase awareness about it, training people and developing skill sets and competencies to work on the cloud is absolutely essential.
The discussion ended with the speakers giving their input and opinions on the event. Such events and discussions will help to spread the word and help CIOs as well as other professionals working on, or looking to work with cloud computing. The speakers felt that it was a good way to take initiative and share knowledge and experiences of cloud. They also advocated on the initiative towards a Cloud Management Forum which would set forth the foundation for cloud adoption standards and could become a platform to recommend the same to government agencies.
Click here for a short video on the highlights of the discussion. For a detailed transcript of the event click here.
