WITWA/ACS-W Cloud Computing Event

written by Kim Wisniewski - find his blog at Kimputa

It was nice to be invited along to participate in a panel discussion on cloud computing at tonight’s special interest group put on jointly by ACS and WITWA, sponsored by IBM and hosted in the room with a view Deloitte boardroom. The event was driven by WITWA, Women-in-Technology-Western Australia. I’d never had any involvement with WITWA before this event, but can see they are doing great things to promote the industry. WITWA have embraced the issue of attracting young people into the industry, which is facing reduced numbers year to year. This was an issue close to home for me, as I’d spent 10 years in the education sector. It’s something my role as Technology Evangelist at Curtin University was designed to help address and promote to future students. Time to put the ‘cool’ back into IT.

I still have a vested interest in this, and spoke to one young imminent graduate who is looking for pathways, and plan on exploring the graduate programme within Empired, which they already had before my time, but I will see where the opportunities to further develop it are.

The turnout at this special interest group (SIG) was a sellout, about 75 people. Each panelist was asked to give a ten minute presentation followed by a group Q&A with the audience. Us panelists had a diverse range of jobs and backgrounds, including a lawyer, who made the comment of the night for me:

I’m not aware of any legal benefits associated with cloud computing.

I also liked his list of legal considerations for the cloud:

• Unilateral termination policies
• Vendor lock in
• Exclusion of liability
• Audit-ability

Which as he states are characteristics no different to any other type of outsourcing arrangement, but are raised to the forefront again with cloud computing.

Checkout the agenda and panelists here.

On a tech front, I also trialled SlideRocket to create and give the presentation “from the cloud”. It’s a great interface but Flash based, so device support is restricted. I’m sure VMware are working to change that and get it on iPad pretty soon. What appeals to me is the sharing and collaboration potential for teams using SlideRocket. It’s also liberating to be not using PowerPoint the old staple for a change. There was something appealing about the SlideRocket work-flow that enabled me to create the presentation very quickly and smoothly. Will I use it again? Maybe… The costing model is a bit annoying, when you get PowerPoint work pay for that. Might try some alternatives.

Here’s a link to my presentation. Slides only, maybe I’ll try capture the audio next time.

http://portal.sliderocket.com/ATHXQ/Did-You-Know

Overall there’s a common theme I was seeing in the audience. That cloud computing is by and large still misunderstood by many people, except those with experience within the ICT industry itself. The cloud is still something we in IT are self-obsessed with but still building meaning to customer groups. (I hate the phrase end-users…) These are the most important people right! That’s why the theme for the speakers to address was pertinent: “what does the cloud mean to you”?

But, slowly the message about it’s benefits and risks are getting out there through forums like WITWA, ACS and Cloud Camp.

Finally a reminder about Perth Cloud Camp 3 for July 22nd, 2011. Register here, it’s free! http://www.cloudcamp.org/perth/2011-07-22