Make steps now to incorporate the cloud into your business

SYDNEY, 1 May, 2009 – The cloud will be mainstream in a few years. If an IT department does not have cloud computing in some form as part of its three year IT plan, it will be left behind. This is the view held by Brett McDowall, Object Consulting’s Chief Technology Officer, as published in an interview with Technology & Business. Brett also says that the economic downturn may be the perfect time to make changes to your business.

"Although not all applications are appropriate for cloud, most are. Enterprises need to start their cloud journey now, and some systems should be 'cloud-enabled' within the next 12 months", says McDowall. "Although we are currently experiencing some resistance, cloud computing will become mainstream – and sooner than some people think. History repeats itself. Twenty years ago it was the same with object technology. Resistance and hype have disappeared. Object technology is now pervasive and has changed the way we do things. In a few years time it will be the same with the cloud", he adds.

Brett believes most companies would have some aspect of their business that could take advantage of the cloud space in the next six months. Low hanging fruit includes experimentation and staging, development and testing, websites, analytics and specialist applications (such as human resources and customer relationship management). He adds that a downturn is a good time to put new practices in place - it could be the beginning of a new type IT department, where the focus is on running cloud-based applications instead of monitoring and maintaining hardware. One of the first things organisations should be doing is to follow SOA, perform an audit and get expert advice from organisations such as Object Consulting.

Brett McDowall is Object's Chief Technology Officer and leads the company's R&D department. He has over 20 years’ of extensive experience in the visioning, architecture, analysis, design, management and implementation of major projects, which makes him a leading force in the creation of successful modern systems. Brett has always been an innovator and uses his deep understanding of technology and software engineering to drive the technical and architectural direction of Object and make IT work for business and users.