Companies using IT outsourcing in London should take action to take control of the service and ensure it is being used effectively, an expert has claimed.
James Peel, product manager at Opsview, has highlighted the many benefits that cloud computing can provide to companies.
“It’s very low friction getting cloud services up and running, which is fantastic in some way. But the problem is it’s all too easy to set up cloud services and people tend to end up deploying far more than they originally intended,” he explained.
He warned that cloud sprawl is a problem that can be a serious problem for businesses, where ineffective use of existing cloud resources results in escalating costs.
Mr Peel gave examples such as the IT department deciding to set up additional servers rather than looking to increase the efficiency of their existing hardware, leading to increasing bills over time.
He also highlighted that in large companies where the IT department reacts slowly there is a risk that other departments will independently set up cloud servers, increasing losses through duplication and obsolescence.
This can be hard to keep an eye on and can be the worst-case scenario for many companies, as it is hard to monitor and can lead to a substantially increased bill at the end of the month, he warned.
The product manager highlighted the fact that many managerial staff are unaware of how many cloud services their employees are using and the way that these technologies are being utilised.
He warned that many firms have not developed the centralised control and monitoring that is necessary to ensure the efficient use of cloud computing resources.
“It means that [people] are doing their own thing and there’s no central control,” he explained.
Mr Peel said that the essentially departmental nature of the technology can make it difficult to get a complete and open understanding of the situation.
He claimed that this can be addressed by companies changing the way that they approach these problems and by introducing new tools to improve the situation.
The situation is one of ‘policing’ the use that employees are making of these facilities and while it is important to give staff autonomy it still needs to be monitored, he explained.
Mr Peel stated that firms should consider what central mechanisms they can put in place to track the extent of the company’s cloud computing and its efficiency, as this will enable the organisation to step in and make changes that will reduce the number of wasted resources.
“Certainly, you want to put the tools in place so you know what the bill is going to be at the end of the month,” he explained.
Mr Peel added that there will be a certain point where processes evolve or become so central to a company that using IT outsourcing to fulfil them is no longer necessary and it is then that they should be brought in-house.
His comments follow recent figures published by Opsview that found 57 per cent of IT directors are currently concerned that cloud services costs could spiral out of control.
It also found that more than half of organisations are also unsure how many cloud-based services their employees are actually using.
