Cloud Computing

sbertram87

Hi, I have a question for everyone. Do you feel cloud computer will kill IT jobs? Here is what I see. You take a computer of 500 employees. They have a file server or two, ERP software, email server, a domain, etc. Why not move it all to the cloud? Get someone to host your email? Get someone to host your file server, ERP software, email server, even your DC. Then fire all the network admins and save money. The only it staff this place needs is a desktop tech or two to replace power supplies; install software, and other grunt work. Is cloud computing going to kill all these good high paying network admin jobs at companies?

For myself I am 30 years old been in IT since 2002, all my jobs have been help style. I want to be a network admin soon but does it pay when that job can go away, am I better off being a helpdesk tech and watch over time network admins get fired? In the computing work for it is small under 100 employees we have yet to move things to the cloud but my boss would like to such as get going on Sales force.com

So what do you think will happen? Do you see cloud computing taking away work for you? Is there a future in being a network admin or a helpdesk tech? Should I give up studying Microsoft Server and learn Sales Forces.com instead and out? What are you doing to deal with the issue?

Thanks

deth1k

Ok, so even though you've moved most of your software platforms / servers into the "Cloud" who do you think is going to support the LAN at your company? In order to "talk" to the cloud you need connectivity internal and external. I don't think you've though of this, have ya?

Turgon

sbertram87 wrote: »

Hi, I have a question for everyone. Do you feel cloud computer will kill IT jobs? Here is what I see. You take a computer of 500 employees. They have a file server or two, ERP software, email server, a domain, etc. Why not move it all to the cloud? Get someone to host your email? Get someone to host your file server, ERP software, email server, even your DC. Then fire all the network admins and save money. The only it staff this place needs is a desktop tech or two to replace power supplies; install software, and other grunt work. Is cloud computing going to kill all these good high paying network admin jobs at companies?

For myself I am 30 years old been in IT since 2002, all my jobs have been help style. I want to be a network admin soon but does it pay when that job can go away, am I better off being a helpdesk tech and watch over time network admins get fired? In the computing work for it is small under 100 employees we have yet to move things to the cloud but my boss would like to such as get going on Sales force.com

So what do you think will happen? Do you see cloud computing taking away work for you? Is there a future in being a network admin or a helpdesk tech? Should I give up studying Microsoft Server and learn Sales Forces.com instead and out? What are you doing to deal with the issue?

Thanks

There is no definitive answer to this question but there are trends. Cloud is hot right now and that means there are a lot of companies either offering it or passing themselves off as offering it. Quality of provider varies. A lot of these companies will get munched up by larger operators in the years ahead or outright go out of business. With a few exceptions a tipping point is reached if you are a cloud provider when you can no longer push the business forward in a dramatic way because you just dont have the capital investment and there will increasingly be a lot of competition in this area as the larger companies mobilise.

Cloud will create jobs for some people.

Cloud and cloud variants will also destroy thousands of jobs in the years ahead. The concept of cloud is seductive. It's an easy sell to executives desperate to put up the right pie chart at head office. Much depends on the CIO and which way he swings with cloud, but he/she will be under constant pressure to consider not only cloud but other alternatives that are perceived to offer savings.

The general direction of travel is to rationalise and lose jobs in operations, not to expand.

Turgon

deth1k wrote: »

Ok, so even though you've moved most of your software platforms / servers into the "Cloud" who do you think is going to support the LAN at your company? In order to "talk" to the cloud you need connectivity internal and external. I don't think you've though of this, have ya?

That can just be outsourced and onsite support to replace spares can go the same way. Stick everything at the centre and thin client the rest. Have remote support using RDP and a 24 hr response for repair by replacement. Do remote backups.

It's already happening. The quality varies but with so many shops either part of a larger parent group (or about to become part of a larger parent group), it's inevitable in many cases.

Remote sites may want something else, but corporate policy will dictate what happens and control the budgets.

Turgon

deth1k wrote: »

Ok, so even though you've moved most of your software platforms / servers into the "Cloud" who do you think is going to support the LAN at your company? In order to "talk" to the cloud you need connectivity internal and external. I don't think you've though of this, have ya?

Another problem here is connectivity. Providing your core services stay local it can be costly for a company to do anything other than support them 'as is'. So people get to keep their jobs. Move the core services to a cloud and the same people can support them for a while.

But so can an operations desk in Poland or Manila. All they need is an MPLS connection to the cloud provider, which is easy to arrange. They then have the same connectivity as the traditional operations people back at the ranch have to the cloud carried core infrastructure.

Traditional operations then have to justify their expense vs cheaper overseas support models.

chrisone

sbertram87 wrote: »

Hi, I have a question for everyone. Do you feel cloud computer will kill IT jobs? Here is what I see. You take a computer of 500 employees. They have a file server or two, ERP software, email server, a domain, etc. Why not move it all to the cloud? Get someone to host your email? Get someone to host your file server, ERP software, email server, even your DC. Then fire all the network admins and save money. The only it staff this place needs is a desktop tech or two to replace power supplies; install software, and other grunt work. Is cloud computing going to kill all these good high paying network admin jobs at companies?

For myself I am 30 years old been in IT since 2002, all my jobs have been help style. I want to be a network admin soon but does it pay when that job can go away, am I better off being a helpdesk tech and watch over time network admins get fired? In the computing work for it is small under 100 employees we have yet to move things to the cloud but my boss would like to such as get going on Sales force.com

So what do you think will happen? Do you see cloud computing taking away work for you? Is there a future in being a network admin or a helpdesk tech? Should I give up studying Microsoft Server and learn Sales Forces.com instead and out? What are you doing to deal with the issue?

Thanks

I dont think you have fully thought this scenario out or do not fully understand how the technology works. The answer to your question is no and no.

Cloud computing is just a vessel, no one is going to pour/manage the information for you. If an organization is willing to outsource the management/IT aspects of their environment, the cost is far more expensive then hiring onsite staff.

shodown

I agree with a lot with the above post. Hince all my IT jobs have been in the service provider area. Even with that it can be packed up and moved away.

eMeS

The concept behind cloud computing is nothing new. What's been new the last couple of years is the buzzword "cloud computing". There have been various service providers of all types since (and well before) my entry IT, and I'm about to hit 23 years in the field.

Nothing about cloud computing will kill jobs. In fact, I'd argue that things like that are more likely to create or shift jobs rather than kill them.

I would say for the most part don't believe all of the nonsense that you read; especially the nonsense that shows up in what the IT industry calls "press".

MS

erpadmin

eMeS wrote: »

The concept behind cloud computing is nothing new. What's been new the last couple of years is the buzzword "cloud computing". There have been various service providers of all types since (and well before) my entry IT, and I'm about to hit 23 years in the field.

Nothing about cloud computing will kill jobs. In fact, I'd argue that things like that are more likely to create or shift jobs rather than kill them.

I would say for the most part don't believe all of the nonsense that you read; especially the nonsense that shows up in what the IT industry calls "press".

MS

I agree with this 100%! (I've only been in the field for about a little over half as much [not counting the time I've been into PCs as a hobby....])

@Everyone else: To paraphrase what I said in another thread that touched on "cloud computing", it's just the next thing that's supposed to be newest and sexiest thing, even though EVERYTHING ELSE that is IT related CAN be offsourced/managed by an outside IT shop. However, many companies won't go this route for a variety of reasons, such as how the data is controlled.

The reason why IT/their services/or the SaaS isn't offloaded to someone else is because certain entities will only trust the administration of data to in-house employees, as they are perceived to be more trustworthy than an offsourced shop. Now you can debate all you want about that until you are blue in the face...the fact is that some companies won't outsource their services OR the software as a service (SaaS) because of those perceptions.

I know someone will consider the rogue in-house employee argument. Go for it, but it's really not relevant.

varelg

The originator of this thread is wrongly accused of not knowing the matter. As he/she expressed, it's the bean counter's possible intent for going cloud after all the hyped coverage.
Let me see your office connecting to the cloud during broadband outage. What? Dialup?
Or just go ahead and blind- trust your cloud provider with your mission critical application. You rely on this app to provide services/products to your customers. Your cloud provider goes out of business. Your app becomes non- existent hence your customers' exodus. Now what?
Even non- mission critical data can't be totally outsourced to cloud. Contact list of your customers for example. Oh would your competiton just LOVE to find out who your customers are! How scrupulous do you think those cloud operators in Poland or Manila are regarding confidentiality? Or payroll. Hmmm, as your competitor let me see how much your schmitie makes.
Of course there will be valid arguments pro cloud, but bean counters should be made aware of all risks involved and had ALL responsibility for the transfer shouldered to them should they still decide to go cloud, not to the IT department they intend to make extinct.
As far as the sbertram87's studies, it won't hurt to get extra qualifications- it can only help, even if the boss decides to fly to the clouds.

it_consultant

These things tend to be circular. People tend to forget that hardware and software lifecycles tend to have cost curves which slope downward as time goes on while hosted solutions almost always curve up. After three years of being on BPOS (through MS) people may realize that they are paying $10 a mailbox when, if they housed it themselves, it may cost $4 a user.

IT pros can ride it out, become the cloud, or work for the cloud. Any way you slice it, demand for our services will continue to increase as people become more connected.

puppy001

Cloud computing is just used for hosting that is it. You still have to configure the servers/services remotely though, but you will not have to worry too much about the hardware and the network so yeah i believe net admin/engneineer and hardware dudes jobs are not looking good for the future.

they will always need the i.t support people and the system admin and the engineers to do the work cause all cloud computing does is host the servers remotely. You still have to configure the servers.

tpatt100

eMeS wrote: »

The concept behind cloud computing is nothing new. What's been new the last couple of years is the buzzword "cloud computing". There have been various service providers of all types since (and well before) my entry IT, and I'm about to hit 23 years in the field.

Nothing about cloud computing will kill jobs. In fact, I'd argue that things like that are more likely to create or shift jobs rather than kill them.

I would say for the most part don't believe all of the nonsense that you read; especially the nonsense that shows up in what the IT industry calls "press".

MS

I think its nothing "new" but I also see it changing into different things. Before "cloud" might have just meant hosted somewhere else. Now a days I am seeing it used to mean you can access the information from multiple devices and almost no downtime because its hosted all over the place. I have seen it used to mean your settings and documents and desktop are the same no matter where you access it geographically or device.

So now its becoming a thin client, roaming profile, clustered, virtual server, etc, etc idea.

My only issue with "cloud" computing is many security standards especially the US Government systems probably will not benefit or use the growing trend in cloud computing.

cablegod

tpatt100 wrote: »

I think its nothing "new" but I also see it changing into different things. Before "cloud" might have just meant hosted somewhere else. Now a days I am seeing it used to mean you can access the information from multiple devices and almost no downtime because its hosted all over the place. I have seen it used to mean your settings and documents and desktop are the same no matter where you access it geographically or device.

So now its becoming a thin client, roaming profile, clustered, virtual server, etc, etc idea.

My only issue with "cloud" computing is many security standards especially the US Government systems probably will not benefit or use the growing trend in cloud computing.

I heard that our Gov is building their own private cloud.

Turgon

chrisone wrote: »

I dont think you have fully thought this scenario out or do not fully understand how the technology works. The answer to your question is no and no.

Cloud computing is just a vessel, no one is going to pour/manage the information for you. If an organization is willing to outsource the management/IT aspects of their environment, the cost is far more expensive then hiring onsite staff.

It really depends on the scale of the offerings and other things. A large provider offers economies of scale that are seductive and stand up well against local IT, in house IT support provision. At least on the pie chart. Somethings do not 'move' well because of the confidentiality issue. There will always be some delimiters there, but the providers are working hard on that to meet standard compliances so they can offer accredited services.

Once a provider offers you hosting and transit of data within and without your enterprise they are then well placed to offer you support models for the infrastructure as well if they have them. Many providers already do this and will increasingly offer them in the years ahead. The model of moving 1st and 2nd line support elsewhere will continue.

Job opportunities do arise though, both within the cloud environments and in consultancy to work with them and migrate services into them.

Of course the management of the use of the cloud by the client remains in the hands of the client as they buy the services they need and deploy what they wish against them. The 'use' of things as opposed to the 'support' of things is key there and a lot of positions will need to align themselves with that as time goes on.

At the same time the work becomes less technical on one level because instead of investing in the design and deployment of a bespoke resilient infrastructure with global scale you just rent a slice of what is already there.

Hosted exchange environments and hosted Avaya gateways are just two examples. There are many others. The CIO at one of my last assignments was busy moving both inhouse provisions out there for all sites across the globe as the costs associated with keeping everything in sync inhouse were becoming prohibitive. A nice integration project for a few to line everything up so it could be handed over and built out greenfield elsewhere, but a disappointment to others who had invested heavily in Exchange and AD integration knowhow to try and straighten everything inhouse out. The situation was taken out of their hands.