Too big to … "go cloud"?

Cloud is a corporate strategy, not a tactical solution

From the desk of Sylvia Ernst - CDD Sr. Director, Community Growth

This article, Cloud is a corporate strategy, not a tactical solution, resonated because I see this occasionally with those who have the luxury of  IT departments and large existing IT/IS infrastructure. Their perceived need is to keep all legacy data and systems and even workflows the same when “going cloud”. It is the (wishful) thinking about exchanging a piece of software in their suite which “shall be in the cloud” and then trying to squeeze all existing processes around this new cloud piece.

In those discussions the request for an “API” comes up because “this is needed to integrate”. But when you start asking and exploring the workflows it turns out that it is not the API or “integration” which is needed. It is instead rather a complete makeover embracing a comprehensive cloud strategy.

Those who think it a low risk to apply traditional “tool thinking” and “don’t change a running system too much” leave all the massive advantages of “the cloud” outside the door.  Others who drive a full cloud strategy on all levels are already taking full advantage of the economic benefits, new uses, etc. and gain competitive advantages. This reminds me a bit of the old question:”What happened to the Dinosaurs?”

This blog is authored by members of the CDD Vault community. CDD Vault is a hosted drug discovery informatics platform that securely manages both private and external biological and chemical data. It provides core functionality including chemical registration, structure activity relationship, chemical inventory, and electronic lab notebook capabilities!

CDD Vault: Drug Discovery Informatics your whole project team will embrace!