楊長華專訪 - The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce

| Special Reports 專 題 報 導 |On cloud nineAttracted by the opportunity to improve efficiency whilecutting IT costs, SMEs are beginning to adopt cloud computing,yet they continue to express concerns about privacy in thecloud, according to a survey by Microsoft Corp. Hong KongSMEs, who have taken the plunge, said in the survey that theyspend around 23 hours per week managing security, which isnearly half the time they used to spend before transitioningto the cloud. Some 51% said they saw improved security, and47% said they spent less time worrying about their company’ssusceptibility to cyberattacks.Scalability is driving the need for many companies to adoptthe cloud. A survey conducted by North Bridge Venture Partners,showed 57% of companies identifying it as the mostimportant driver for cloud adoption.Emperor Group, which runs a wide range of businesses,has also been expanding rapidly and needed a unified presencewith a common IT platform.“To keep up with the rapid growth of our businesses andcater for the increasing demand from users for communicationaccess anytime, anywhere, we were seeking a compellingcloud solution that could integrate well with our existingIT infrastructure, so that we could migrate to cloud on ourown terms,” said Gary Choi, Chief Information Officer of theEmperor Group.Just as words like “information highway,” “world wide web,”and “dot-com era” have become quaint reminders of yesteryear,“cloud” may also start to fade as a label as it becomesless of a paradigm shift into just an everyday way that we dothings.Fear Clouding JudgmentCompanies cite lack of trust as oneof the main reasons why they are notembracing the cloudApple’s co-founder Steve Wozniakstirred up a storm last monthwhen the 61-year-old warned of thedangers of moving data into remoteservers, or cloud computing.Speaking on the sidelinesfollowing a conference in Washingtonon August 5, Wozniak said: “I reallyworry about everything going to thecloud. I think it’s going to behorrendous. I think there are going tobe a lot of horrible problems in thenext five years. ... the more wetransfer everything onto the web,onto the cloud, the less we’re goingto have control over it.”His comments unleashed a stormof articles to claim he isscaremongering. But his commentsreflect the concerns that businesseshave about the cloud.In its latest survey, the UptimeInstitute, a respected organizationthat focuses on data center bestpractices and economics todetermine overall data center spendand trends in investment, found thatbusinesses were reluctant to adoptcloud computing due to security,compliance and reliability.Another concern is what happenswhen the company you sign up withgoes out of business? Or if you wantto move to a different serviceprovider, will companies be lockedin? What happens if data becomescorrupt ...?Cloud computing firms usedisclaimers to waive liability, but theEuropean Commission feels that isnot good enough. It wants operatorsto improve contracts to avertcomplex and costly legal disputes.But it also hopes better contracts willease companies’ privacy and securityconcerns, as it sees the technologycan offer substantial savings andincrease businesses’ competitiveness.In July, an 18-member cloudgroup of experts from HongKong and Guangdong was setup in July by the Hong KongOffice of the Government ChiefInformation Officer (OGICO)and the Economic andInformation Commission ofGuangdong Province, to setcloud computing standards andbest practices.It will be tasked to facilitatecross-border co-operationbetween Guangdong and HongKong in promoting cloudcomputing adoption,development, and to formulatecloud standards and practices.© Yudesign | Dreamstime.com14 September 2012 The Bulletin 工 商 月 刊