The cloud and the fallout

SBS MVPs Calvin McLennan and Boon Tee, MVP Kerry Brown, SBS MVP Kevin Royalty and marketing guru Matt Makowicz

Back in the McCarthy era when atomic proliferation was on the minds of most politicians, the looming threat of mushroom clouds and nuclear fallout from potential first or second strikes scared the living daylights of most reasonable people. It became a matter of life or death to get everyone to think about life under the constant threat of nuclear annihilation and how to prepare for the inevitable. In the IT professional world, the newest threat and challenge to its business model is the amorphous "cloud," the term used to include all services, monitoring and threat management being sent to the Internet. In reality several corporations whose services live in the cloud are a direct threat to those who have traditional business models or offer managed services for clients on a local basis. There are potential problems of fallout with these companies due to legal liabilities or lack of failsafe methods being employed that can directly impact clients. Such scenarios include servers that may reside side-by-side with enterprises that are not legitimate, which could then get impounded by law enforcement officials or changes in H.I.P.P.A. laws which now put the physicians at risk should a breach of data occur, for example. This fallout can mean real costs to IT professionals and can lead to clients losing trust in them because of shortsightedness on the IT firms' parts. It is essential that everyone in the IT industry know of their legal responsibilities and that they inform their clients of how moving their data to the cloud can lead to future problems. What happens if the company they choose fails? How do they get their data back or, if they decide to leave the firm, at what cost will that firm charge them for the data? And, if the data is recoverable, in what form will they send it back? If the client wants to look at costs, how do we explain that the upfront costs may be miniscule compared to the overall cost of liabilities that may arise later? These cases are critical to the future of the IT industry and will be of prime import as more business move to the cloud and current managed services firms grapple with how to stay afloat with the burgeoning threat of the cloud. Today's panel discussion included several Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals who gave their take on what to look for and what to look out for. Also, Matt Makowicz, a former IT firm owner who now deals solely as an author and marketing guru, lent his own suggestions and warning to IT professionals. It was agreed by everyone on the panel that change is coming and all of those in the IT industry will have to change with it or lose viability in the next few years. Once again, thanks to Jeff Middleton for an impressive three-day event.

The first day of the IT Pro Conference 2010

Jeff Middleton, Matt Makowicz, Karl Palachuk and George Serchio

The IT Pro Conference 2010 sponsored by Jeff Middleton's SBS Migration.com got underway with a plethora of IT professionals gathering to inform each other of some of the best ways to maintain and grow their businesses. Much of the fear from industry insiders has involved thinking about how "the cloud" will affect the market and impact IT firms, who previously have offered services on a local basis. Much of the early panels discussed how to determine strengths within IT businesses and how to mitigate problems with cash flow and liability management. Later discussions revolved about servers and ramifications of data servers hosted remotely ("the cloud") as well as real answers to questions about how to brand Small Business Server and other Windows Servers to clients. The best of the later sessions was done by Ofer Shimrat, the San Diego guru whose SoundOff is about to launch its first Managed Services platform in July. It will be interesting to see how they make the transition from advanced client support to full unified threat management and monitoring of clients through the cloud. Sessions tomorrow will deal with an alternative mail server to Microsoft Exchange, VPN firewalls and monitoring alternatives as well as virtualization tips and best techniques.

It's that SBS Migration time again

Jeff Middleton, "Old Betsy" and Tim Laughlin

Tireless Microsoft Small Business Server Most Valuable Player Jeff Middleton hunkered down at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel tonight with a mission. He is hosting his third annual SBS Migration.com IT Professional Conference there, welcoming a gaggle of geeks from across the globe to his own beloved New Orleans. In order to appreciate the charms and joys of New Orleans, he has summoned up a number of special events for evening time and started the three-day event with Tim Laughlin's band performing before a crowd of nearly 80. Laughlin, who is the premiere New Orleans clarinetist played "Old Betsy," Pete Fountain's fabled clarinet which he presented to him some time back. It was a pleasant kickoff to what should be several days of impressive panels of IT gurus who, along with Middleton, will impart knowledge and answer questions about Microsoft Windows servers and how to best implement effective solutions in the business arena. Some of the presentation team members have come from as far away as Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. A number of major players from the IT industry will be on hand to pitch their products as well like eFolder, Storagecraft, BackupAssist, Cloud Services Depot, Own, Cloud, Autotask and Kerio. My own eports will emanate from the hotel throughout most of what remains for this holiday weekend. Middleton definitely knows how to show off his own beloved New Orleans and the cuisine, drinks and music will reflect that. After the conference concludes on Sunday, there will be an opportunity for many of the visitors to leave New Orleans for a short cruise to exotic ports of call.