As many of you know, I’m a partner and director of technology for a publishing company based in San Francisco, California. One of our flagship properties is the Bay Area Women’s Journal, an on-line lifestyle publication with a primary focus on issues and topics of interest to women in the San Francisco area.

The Journal started life as a hardcopy publication, with a Web version available as a convenience for our readers.  A couple of years ago we decided to stop publishing the physical journal and deliver the publication exclusively via the Web.  That proved to be a wise and timely decision – BAYAREAWJ.com has been a big hit.

Now, we’ve released a new product that positions us on the leading edge of the current trend in publishing periodicals – an online digital edition in a familiar magazine format.  Click here to take a peek at the digital version of the SF Bay Area Women’s Journal! http://www.bayareawj.com/san-francisco-womens-journal-magazine/ And be sure to click through the pages.  Not only will you find the content interesting, but I think you’ll agree that with today’s technology it’s fun to read magazines online!

There is, of course, a great deal of value to be gleaned from the cloud movement – both from public cloud services and by implementing private/internal clouds. As cloud vendors and services mature, they will be a valuable addition to the IT landscape and will fill a variety of roles (some as core services and others as utility services). But enterprise users should not rush to try to realize the promised benefits without a clear strategy, realistic planning and – above all — risk management.

Just a brief comment about the etymology of the term “cloud. We used to use “cloud” as a symbol for some entity out on the network. We weren’t concerned with what was in that cloud (generally, it was a black box). Someone else was providing results/output from that we needed. It didn’t matter how the functionality was implemented as long as it delivered what we needed at the edge (contracts and other means of assuring the usability, quality and usefulness had to be in place, of course).

The cloud in “Cloud Computing” as we use the term today is quite different. These Clouds need to be grey boxes, not black boxes. We need to understand much more about their construction and how they operate. I strongly recommend that if you’re planning to host core processes or data in/on a cloud that’s managed and controlled by another party… you need to exercise due diligence and establish clear, contractual agreements on SLAs, ensure that security is appropriate for your use, and understand your data and process migration options — and that’s just for starters.

I’m elaborating more on this and other related topics to create a clear framework for a Cloud Computing Roadmap in my blog at http://www.StrategicITArchitecture.com.

It looks to me like we are very close to the peak of the Hype Cycle – lots of, often irrational, press; “silver bullet” claims; rush to adoption without attention to basic best practice (which will result in early failures that deepen the Trough of Disillusionment!).

Note: I’m referring here to enterprise cloud computing – private, community, and hybrid — not the simple SaaS offerings, like productivity tools. Generally, those are pretty low-risk with minimal impact/risk.

One of my concerns is the lack of clarity in definition, and overloading the use of the term, Cloud Computing. I do believe that we’ve established the foundation for clarity in understanding what Cloud Computing means and the options for leveraging the opportunities it offers (for more information, see http://www.StrategicITArchitecture.com). But it looks to me as if the momentum (frenzy?) has built to the point that many prospective adopters are not paying attention to basics and are rushing to judgment.

Clouds (in their various flavors) represent a powerful and positive evolution in our delivery and consumption of IT resources and services. Ensuring success in choice of strategy, reduction of risk, and the earliest possible ROI can benefit from tracking the Hype Cycle and factoring it into the decision making process. Prudent adoption strategies will ensure that we reach the Plateau of Productivity.

One of my favorite, recent articles in the McKinsey Quarterly is by Professor Richard Rumelt, UCLA, titled “Strategy in a structural break.” Rumelt makes a compelling case that we’re in the midst of a “structural break”, now, and suggests how we might craft strategies for seizing the inevitable opportunities that emerge from the chaos. For more about the implications to those of us who are IT leaders and professionals, see my blog at www.StrategicITArchitecture.com.

At a minimum, it may be possible to develop strategies that allow you to leverage — and maybe re-purpose — under-utilized assets already in place to create a more powerful, effective and agile IT ecosystem; minimum investment for maximum advantage. Cloud Computing – private, public, and hybrid Clouds — offers some interesting and exciting alternatives!

Now… my challenge is to find some interesting and provocative topics that are worth the time and effort for you to engage.