If an ‘IT pro’ told me that “cloud technologies are imature and not ready for prime time”, I would expect also to get a list of cloud projects the s/he had been involved with, a list of cloud vendors that the projects were built for and a description of the problems that gave evidence of immaturity. I.e., repeating things I read about cloud technology is one thing; creating opinions out of my personal experience is something very different. Your thought about “worried about thier job” could very well be a primary factor. It should be easy to validate. — Tom

However, “Afraid of the cloud?” as a question by itself requires additional considerations. As an ISV, a company should not jump into a major cloud-based product offering without first gaining solid understanding. I’d be ‘afraid’ if a management directive created a major product offering without first allowing experience to be gathered. I’ve had to support such products, ones without significant staff experience. It can be expensive, and ‘fear’ is a reasonable feeling. — Tom

I was taught in 1985 that we, as a species would have to develop a different attitude to ‘leisure time’ due to IT advances. The only reason to be afraid of any new development in Computing is the common fact that every generation believes things were ‘better in their day’.

As an IT professional, many things scare me about the cloud. Losing work or a job is not among them. The second in command at my place of work (who’s quite prone to marketing buzzwords) asked me, “Our company has a bank account and we trust the bank with our accounts and our money, what’s the difference?” I responded, “If your money went missing, you’d know it. If someone broke into your cloud service or illegally purchased a copy of your data from a hard-up-for-dollars tech at your cloud provider, you may never know it. Or you may find out too late.” That’s the first big issue. The second is if the service goes down, I cannot be held liable and no amount of yelling will get your back to your data because there will now be a queue of customers in line with you, all waiting for your service to return. I cannot be of aid or assistance if I’m not in control of where the data sits. The Sony Playstation debacle should’ve been an eye opener. The sight of advert-enamored executive marching all their precious data into the cloud without a care is one of the most frightening things I’ve ever witnessed. Let’s say the IRS wants to audit your company and your data is housed securely at that facility. They may have to obtain a subpoena or writ to enter your business and set up time and place to meet and discuss. If your data sits, let’s say – in Microsoft’s SkyDrive – they’ll just go to Microsoft and Microsoft will gladly hand it over – and you’ll never even know about it. Until they show up at your door having seen all your intimate numbers and you’ll be caught there without an ounce of readiness or preparation for what’s coming. That’s just the tip – The cloud is incredibly scary. The people who eagerly give over every scintilla of data their company has built up over the years scare me even more.