The smoke screen dissipates and the clouds build

“The Central Intelligence Agency is stepping up its reliance on Amazon’s burgeoning cloud computing infrastructure as US spymasters look to use cloud based commercial software in their analytical work

In a rare public speech last tuesday, Doug Wolfe, the CIA’s Chief Information Officer addressing an Amazon conference in Washington cited AWS Kinesis and Redshift applications, which enable processing and analysis of massive streams of data, as the kind of software the CIA wants to use.

The spy agency already has a US$600 million contract in place with Amazon, which IBM challenged unsuccessfully in the courts.”

Source Financial Times ft.com

Given that the number one reason for organisations not moving to the Cloud is the concern over security and data privacy is this announcement the final ‘outing’ of the actual untruth in this unsecure claim?

The security concern is often pushed by incumbent suppliers and internal IT staff as the primary reason why the cloud can’t be used within an organization but as already stated by Nicholas Carr in his latest rant this is nothing more than a FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) tactic propagated by those who are set to loose most by the Cloud shift.

“So if it is good enough for the CIA it is probably good enough for me” should be the cry of business leaders who can now demand that their organisation seriously evaluate their cloud shift and the many advantages such a move can bring, without the fear of the Security Spectre.

My own experience in championing the run to the Cloud over the last decade is that any serious examination reveals a compelling truth, that a well engineered cloud approach is in actuality more secure than any home grown alternative, or indeed it is better than the reality of the security of the system that the organisation is actually running today. This was part of the argument I used with the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority when we obtained the first Cloud approved approach back in 2008, that is, the proposed cloud solution was more secure and robust than the one in place at the organisation already and if APRA had approved the current platform for operation how could they possibly object to something that was demonstrably superior.

Well engineered does need to be stressed however because a poorly implemented cloud solution can yield higher security threats but the myth that cloud means insecure is now well and truly dead and I thank the CIA for their belated, but crucial support.

About Gavin Keeley

I am an experienced technologist and business leader with a career spanning nearly 30 years in international consultancy and corporate roles across a diverse range of sectors. During the last decade I have had a number of Senior Executive roles, as Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer, in large complex corporate and government environments, ranging in size from tens to thousands of IT personnel. During the 80’s and 90’s I founded and established a successful IT Consulting company, after an initial period learning my trade at a ‘big four’ consultancy. The company I founded became renowned, through white papers, trade articles and at conferences, for pioneering with emerging technologies at a portfolio of blue chip companies in Europe and the US. I was at the forefront of the wave of new technologies such as Decision Support and Executive Information in the 80’s and throughout the ‘90’s I was again early with internet and advanced networking technologies - including a number of ‘world first’ client implementations for, amongst others, Oracle and Microsoft More recently I was the first CTO for Aviva in the UK and implemented the world’s first “Pay As You Drive” capability for the Insurer. As Executive General Manager for Business Technology Solutions at Suncorp I was responsible for leading business innovation through technology, and as CTO at Hollard Insurance pioneered a new cloud based technology strategy for the insurer. I have qualifications in both Computing and Business, in addition to my professional teaching qualifications, and media training, that make me a capable communicator. I am a seasoned public speaker at industry conferences, plus a guest lecturer at a number of Universities and have published articles on my leading edge perspectives. I advise companies through the government Mentoring for Growth programme, sit on the boards of a number of Australian companies, and chair the Queensland Group X Digital Careers Program.

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