Examining cloud computing from the top management perspective

McAfee (2011) examines the major issues of adopting cloud computing from the top management perspective. It is a good reading on cloud computing for business management students. The main value, from my perspective, is his coverage on the following 3 topics as related to cloud computing:

1. The benefits of adopting cloud computing in enterprises: e.g. productivity improvement; more collaboration in business running; access to a broader range of software as services, including data mining.
2. The problems and concerns of adopting cloud computing:  legacy IT  problem; uncertainty on cost; uncertainty of software reliability; IT security concerns; legal uncertainty arising from cloud computing usage.
3. The appropriate steps for adopting cloud computing in enterprises: 4 guidelines are offered by McAffee. The main idea is, in brief, to adopt a gradual and exploratory approach of cloud computing adoption, plus collaboration with enterprises' software vendors in the process.

You need to refer to McAfee's article to learn the detailed line of reasoning on the ideas briefly noted above.


Reference
MdAffee, A. (2011) "What every CEO needs to know about the Cloud" Harvard Business Revew November, pp. 124-132.