Cloud Computing Drivers - Where is the Focus?

While I was writing this post about the linkage between vendor offerings and IT offerings, I started noodling on this circular challenge:

Public Cloud Driver - IT People (dissatisfaction with IT services)
Public Cloud Enemy - AWS Outages

Private Cloud Driver - IT Competitiveness (business demands for better services)
Private Cloud Enemy - IT People

Lots of time and effort gets spent trying to debate the merits or failings of various technologies. Are technologists really spending their time on the right things? Maybe this is why Gartner has recently flip-flopped on their Public vs. Private Cloud deployment guidance. But which group within the business will be leading that leap?

Looking in the Mirror: IT Demands vs. Business Demands

Sometimes a few different thought streams randomly cross and you start connecting the dots about problems that you've been viewing from only certain angles in the past. That happened to me last week.

1. Thought Stream #1 had me making a list of the most common objectives I receive from IT organizations as we discuss products, technologies, etc. They aren't unusual, and they'd probably been reasonably consistent for the past 5-6 yrs (or longer). 
2. Thought Stream #2 occurred as I watched the tweet stream from Chuck Hollis (@chuckhollis, blog) last week. He was commenting on the discussions that were occurring at an EMC IT Leadership Summit, focused on changes and trends in IT. Some tweet streams disappear over time, I copied a few of the interesting ones below: