Why CFOs Should Care About the Cloud

by Harry Pun, Symantec.cloud, 05 May 2011

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Amazon Web Services capex cloud computing opex outages security storage Symantec

Saying the last 10 years have been interesting for the CFO is a bit of an understatement. If you have been in finance that long, you would have survived the strictures of Sarbanes-Oxley, not to mention two stock market crashes, global warming and sustainability pressures, an ageing workforce and the ongoing technological revolution.

Against that background, your role may have changed somewhat. Of course, the traditional financial controller tasks are still fundamental for business, but it is likely that you also play a more strategic role in advising the CEO and senior leadership team in managing the business.

Given all of that, you could be forgiven for thinking that you can leave all decisions relating to the latest technology trends around cloud-based computing and services to the IT department. Surely they can handle decisions to do with system set-ups and server locations?

De-mystifying the Cloud

Cloud computing offers an alternative to traditional methods of increasing capacity or adding capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. It encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that extends IT’s existing capabilities in real time, using the Internet as the delivery mechanism.

The cloud analogy is easy to recognize as a depiction for the Internet. However, going to the next level of cloud computing can be as fluffy as the cloud diagram itself. The issue is that this is a rapidly expanding and evolving area of technology, with many suppliers defining what cloud is from their own perspectives. Essentially, cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to consumers on demand.

Cloud computing removes much of the need for expertise in the technology infrastructure supporting the organization. Business users simply take advantage of web-based tools or applications that they can access and use through a web browser, as if they were programs installed locally on their own computer.

Currently the majority of services are point-based applications offering a specific solution that fall into one of three categories, although aggregators and integrators are emerging (see table below).

Click table to enlarge

Benefits – But Also Outages

Cloud computing has the potential to greatly reduce cost and convert capital expenditure to operational expenditure. Infrastructure is typically provided by a third party and does not need to be purchased for one-time or infrequent but intensive computing tasks.

I think that any CFO should

Submitted by Doctor Gauss on 23 April 2012 - 2:24am

I think that any CFO should visit the www.activextest.com and read something about this growing field. You have to understand such technology if you to help your company move forward.

Cloud computing has

Submitted by James Loftcraft on 21 December 2011 - 10:37pm

Cloud computing has advantages and disadvantages, but I would surely appreciate a regcure application that could help me save money and time. The only thing I'm worried about is privacy.

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