Cloudphobia: Why Some Fear The Cloud and Why They Shouldn't

Cloudphobia is not only a condition that sometimes strikes IT managers, it strikes business owners and managers at all levels.  Cloudphobia is a term used to describe a fear of using cloud based IT services.

First, let’s look at what triggers cloudphobia. Cloud services enable companies of all sizes to outsource their infrastructure and spend less time worrying about technology, avoid maintaining physical servers in their offices, and reducing capital spend every few years. The cloud provider handles all technology details for a very affordable monthly fee. These are good things—so why cloudphobia?

Most of the time cloudphobia is caused by one or more of the following fears:

• loss of control
• performance issues
• job insecurity
• increased expense

 Let’s examine how we can manage each of these symptoms and possibly offer some relief to cloudphobia sufferers.

Symptom #1: Fear of Loss of Control

IT managers are the ultimate experts regarding their systems, and as such, cloud hosting companies typically ensure that overall control remains in the managers hands. A hosted solution offers the ability to add users, change settings, increase storage, delete an account, and more. The cloud hosting provider handles all of the complexities freeing up the IT manager to focus on more pressing and complicated tasks.

One element of control that any IT manager is likely to be happy to give up is being on call. With a cloud hosted solution, issues in the middle of the night are handled by the cloud hosting company while the IT manager stays in bed. The hosting company’s team is also responsible for the fixing issues that may arise during business hours, giving the IT person solid backup in the event of a crisis.

Symptom #2: Fear of Performance Degradation

A few years ago, this was a valid fear. Immature products and slow or expensive internet routinely led to delays and slowness of the applications hosted in the cloud. Today’s robust network infrastructures coupled with inexpensive bandwidth have eliminated this issue. In many of our tests, the cloud hosted solution performed equally to an on-site server or application.

In addition to speed, cloud solutions offer small businesses the infrastructure of an enterprise company for a fraction of the cost.

With redundant fiber connectivity and state of the art servers and data center technologies, performance issues are no longer an issue at all.

Symptom #3: Fear of Job Insecurity

This is probably the strongest symptom of cloudphobia for IT managers. While IT managers usually understand the benefits their company would gain, they see their value coming from being the person who other employees turn to in order to keep their critical applications up and running.

If IT gets outsourced, how can they continue to validate their job? The truth is: Once the day-to-day management and troubleshooting of the basic IT services is outsourced, IT professionals are free to focus on core job functions that directly benefit their company. This is typically in development, support, or large technology and project milestones. They no longer have to worry about email, voice, or other basic IT services going down.

With the stability of cloud hosting, IT managers become revered for the stability of their systems and not just putting out fires. A cloud hosted solution also enables a quicker roll out of new functionality demanded by end users. The IT manager will be seen as a strategic member of the leadership team, rather than just the person who “fixes computers.”

Symptom #4: Fear of Increased Expense

There can be tremendous cost involved in owning and maintaining multiple servers and software applications including staff time, hardware, software, and training. These expenses can be eliminated via the cloud hosting model, which provides the same and more benefits of on-site systems and servers at a predictable monthly cost. Outsourcing to the cloud enables easier budgeting and eliminates the fears of project cost overruns.

The prescription is clear. Experiencing the benefits of cloud hosted solutions is the best cure for cloudphobia for anyone in the organization!