The current hype surrounding Cloud Computing extols the virtues of having access to your data, at anytime from anywhere. So the theory of Cloud Computing goes, it doesn’t matter where your data is stored so long as you have continuous access to your applications and documents.
This view of the Public Cloud does not take into consideration some fundamental technical and cultural concerns around data security and data protection. One of the main reasons cited for not adopting the Cloud is a fear of trusting a 3rd party with your critical data.
There is no one territory or organisation who has won over the hearts and minds of Cloud users. All countries have Cloud providers, and even now despite no technical barriers to data flow via IP (Internet Protocol) across borders and continents, there is a very localised approach to Cloud services, not just in country (e.g UK to UK) but within a geographically specific region. In a recent example, a Backup Technology US customer based in Houston was adamant they wanted their data to be separated from their main hub in downtown Houston, but they did not want their data to leave Texas. Luckily we were able to provide facilities in our Dallas data centre.
How do we break this localism ? It is very difficult to shift a cultural assumption that dictates that there is a comfort level from using services that do not operate on my own shopfloor, but not enough comfort to locate those services out of state or out of country.
I believe there is an enormous opportunity for a country to take the cultural lead in Cloud Computing and establish themselves as the safe haven for data in the Cloud just as the Swiss banking industry did 300 years ago by making itself the de facto place for banking security
In the second part of this blog I will examine the interesting parallels between events that are separated by 300 years !!
Part 2: Can the UK become to Cloud Computing what Switzerland became to banking? (Part 2)
