Cloud Computing: Transparency Challenges

Transparency - Complete Controller

In a survey conducted by Forrester Consulting, nearly 250 IT leaders and experts shared their concerns regarding cloud computing transparency. It is an issue that remains unanswered despite the prevalence of cloud technologies and improved cloud security and performance over the past decade. According to the survey, a lack of cloud transparency can direly impact any organization’s financial and operational aspects. Download A Free Financial Toolkit

What Does Cloud Transparency Mean?

There is no doubt about the growth and potential of cloud computing and its dominating enterprise technology. While cloud vendors are throwing humongous claims regarding their venue, they share little to no information about strategy, service, or performance. Without proper figures or metadata, customers can’t evaluate the service objectively. Lack of cloud computing transparency is one reason businesses can still not trust cloud services despite the improved security.

Typically, cloud computing transparency is all about declaring clear service thresholds. Uptime, system availability, response time, and problem resolution are just a few factors that require an open and honest declaration of the threshold. Everything must be transparent and conveyed, from pricing policies, without any fine print or subtext. That is what transparency means, but we are still far from achieving a level that can improve adaptability. Complete Controller. America’s Bookkeeping Experts

How to Ensure Transparency in the Cloud

Transparency is required for the bot, the customer-facing, and the public-facing end. Speaking of the latter, most vendors, including Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM, offer a breakdown of earnings, revenues, run rates, etc. Oracle even shares a breakdown of the platform, infrastructure, software, etc. However, that is not all about cloud computing transparency.

Many experts believe that this type of information doesn’t precisely improve transparency. It is akin to revealing information while hiding the hardware, specifically in cloud vendors using traditional infrastructure and different cloud flavors. The breakdown needs to be detailed and insightful based on other groups and flavors that the vendor offers. A more customized approach must be adopted to define the revenues while ensuring better cloud computing transparency.

Customer-Facing Cloud Transparency

SAAS providers like Salesforce or Workday must define their infrastructure efficiency benchmarks. Sadly, most vendors do not share a breakdown of the charges related to the backend infrastructure. This keeps the customers from adequately comparing different vendors. Not to mention, it is where cloud computing transparency suffers a blow. Cubicle to Cloud virtual business

Experts believe customers should ask for a cost breakdown and demand to know the infrastructure cost. That will pressure vendors offering IAAS as a part of SAAS to decouple both offerings. This will considerably lower the Software’s prices as a service product by removing the middleman from the whole equation. If a customer needs to mark up the infrastructure, they will deal directly with the vendor.   

How Cloud Transparency will Help Vendors

So far, it seems like transparency is all about benefits for the buyers and users, but that’s not true. Looking at the bigger picture, cloud computing transparency has a critical role in the future of cloud computing. In addition to security, transparency is the most crucial aspect of adaptability. The more transparent the cloud vendors are, the more comfortable enterprises will be inputting their trust in the cloud. With increasing cloud customers, cloud vendors will find more opportunities to optimize their service and spending. 

While there is much to be done on the vendor’s end, customers should also be more prudent about choosing a vendor that promises and delivers cloud computing transparency. If possible, visit the data center, and don’t hesitate to ask for compliance audit reports or breach notification policies. Higher transparency will improve the trust between vendors and buyers and eventually shape the cloud’s future.

 

LastPass – Family or Org Password Vault About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity. CorpNet. Start A New Business Now