Cloud computing expertise has become concentrated within cloud service providers as the cloud has expanded. Even large corporate IT departments and typical Irish businesses lack cloud skills. There is growing interest in managed cloud services as a result. Paul Kane of Servecentric says managing cloud services is like "keeping the lights on" and is best outsourced as an effective and economic managed service. Aidan McCarron of Dediserve, an Irish cloud company, says organizations see cloud's business value in flexibility and opportunities for change, and choose various cloud options bundled into a managed package suited to their needs. McCarron says Dediserve provides a "one-stop cloud shop" and tailored IT-as-a-Service solution.

1. 38 | The Sunday Business Post | September 2015
THE NEXT EPISODE
THE AIR UP THERE
CLOUD COMPUTING
stheclouddeveloped
and split into clouds
of clouds and an ev-
er-widerrangeofservices,it
isfairtosaythattheexpertise
begantobeconfinedtoalarge
degreewithinthecloudser-
vice providers, consultants
and ICT service companies.
Even the traditional large
corporate IT departments
in banks or multinationals
or government do not really
haveanythinglikeafullsetof
cloud skills and experience.
In the more typical Irish
business, from micro to
medium, even those which
traditionally had at least a
small IT team – usually be-
causetheirsectorwasheavily
tech-dependent – there is
minimal if any cloud ex-
pertise. “That is why there
is more and more interest
in managed cloud services
at all levels, from the first
steps to what is as near as
makes no difference IT-as-
a-Service,” said Paul Kane,
interimmarketingdirectorof
Servecentric,thedatacentre
and provider of IT services
since 2002.
“The point is that man-
aging cloud services is the
equivalent of ‘keeping the
lights on’ and by and large
does not contribute directly
tothesuccessofthebusiness.
So we take on that role for
them.Mostofitisessentially
a commodity service, a cost
to the business, so an out-
sourced managed service is
effective and economic and
offers economy of scale and
skills.
“One new customer re-
cently said it bluntly to
us: ‘we want one throat to
choke.’ Organisations today
are accustomed to buying
services, to contracts and
SLAs, and the fact that some
of the ICT services are in the
cloud is irrelevant to their
choiceofalocal,trustworthy
supplier. We have seen out-
sourcing failures ourselves,
where responsibilities were
ill-defined and there was
no central leadership and it
didn’t end well.
“One of the facts about
cloud that is seldom ac-
knowledged is that many
business leaders think that
somehowthenormalrulesof
businessandtheexperience
of decades of buying IT no
longer apply,” Kane said.
“Settingaboutmovingto-
wards the cloud and buying
cloudservicesisnodifferent
in principle from traditional
ICT. You examine, you plan,
youspecify,youtakeadvice,
you decide your priorities
and then you find ways of
testing step by step. You are
purchasing an appropriate
set of computing resources
for your organisation. Only
thetechnologyhaschanged.”
Dediserveisanindigenous
companythathasspecialised
in cloud for its seven years
in business, specifically in
high-end enterprise solu-
tions.Itnowhas15locations
throughout Europe, the US
and Asia and over 3,500 cli-
ents,includingbluechipslike
theAA,OPW,theIrishTimes,
MyHome.ie and major ele-
ments of the NHS in Britain.
“Wewereessentiallypub-
liccloudformostofthattime
but have now introduced
private and hybrid options
as the cloud market and the
technology has developed
and matured,” said Aidan
McCarron, MD and founder.
As general understanding
ofwhatcloudcanaccomplish
has deepened, there is now
more focus on mixing and
matching tasks and work-
loads, choosing what is the
best fit from a range of op-
tions.
“Organisations are seeing
cloudfromthepointofview
of business value – not just
the simple economics but
the flexibility and opportu-
nitiesforcontinuouschange
and improvement. They see
how they can choose vari-
ouscloudoptionsandbundle
them together into a man-
agedpackagethatsuitstheir
current needs,” McCarron
said.
“Thesearecompaniesthat
understandthebusinessval-
ueofIT,indeedtotallydepend
on it, but they do not want
to manage it because their
businessfocusissomewhere
else. In that context we are
a one-stop cloud shop that
will architect and package
and manage what the client
wants.Itisinessencetailored
IT-as-a-Service.”
Thequestionofspecialistcloud
computingskillshasbecomea
dominantoneinthesectorinrecent
years
A
Setting about
moving towards the
cloud and buying
cloud services is no
different in principle
from traditional ICT
Paul Kane,
interim
marketing
director of
Servecentric,
the data centre
and provider
of IT services
Aidan McCarron,
managing director
and founder,
Dediserve