3 Biggest Cloud Computing Challenges Facing IT Managers

There are many people and businesses clamoring about how useful cloud computing is, but many IT managers are facing some tough challenges with this relatively new technology. While cloud computing might help companies save money, they are also sacrificing security and control. These are the three biggest challenges based on how prevalent they are, and how difficult they are to correct.

Lack of Control

Control is everything to an IT manager. He or she has to constantly watch the network to ensure that traffic and data is moving properly, and to ensure that there aren’t any hackers or programming errors that are slowing down the systems. Under normal circumstances, the IT manager can easily check the network and make changes as needed.

While cloud computing interfaces do their best to help IT managers watch and change the network, there is a lack of control when compared to an in-house system. The manager has to go through the cloud interfaces, and sometimes he or she might have to talk with the cloud service provider to make changes. This can get very annoying for both sides, and it usually delays responsiveness because more people have to be involved.

If cloud computing is to be accepted on a wider scale, then IT managers need much more direct control of the network.

Meeting Certain Security Protocols

This is an especially difficult challenge for federal departments and companies with intense security protocols. Not only does the IT manager lose some control of the network, but he or she has a much harder time meeting many security protocols. For example, federal departments are required to keep a physical inventory of everything that happens over the network, but this requirement is very hard to fulfill with a cloud provider. Some providers might offer this service, but many don’t.

Another difficulty with security is that most cloud providers don’t give IT managers the ability to see what is happening in real time. The information is usually delayed, and this can make it much easier for a hacker to enter the system unnoticed.

The last major difficulty is that most of the network is located at the service provider’s data center. While the providers have many rules and protocols that keep people from accessing your data, it’s much easier for someone to sneak in and steal information from your network than if the network was stationed at your own data center.

Teaching Others

The last major difficult for an IT manager is that he or she has to teach everyone else how to use the new cloud interface. This might even be hard for the manager. He or she will have to learn a completely new interface so that the cloud network can be properly used and managed. The IT manager is also responsible for showing all of the other employees how to use the cloud interface so that they can do their daily workload.

If most of the other employees are not very good with technology, then it can take weeks or months before the company is working at normal productivity levels. The IT manager will generally be blamed for this, even if he or she is doing everything possible to teach everyone the interface.

Conclusion

While cloud computing has many benefits for most businesses, there are also a lot of challenges that IT managers have to face. These are three of the top challenges, but there are many others that IT managers are complaining about. If you are going to switch to a cloud network, then be sure that the entire company is ready for the change.

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Randy Douglas is an IT manager and guest author at Masters in IT, where he has contributed guides to getting an online masters in information technology.