IT at a Crossroads: Driving the Transformation of IT Services Production Towards Cloud-Enabled Business Outcomes

Cloud computing brings about a truly historic transformation in how Information and Communications Technologies (ICT, often simply referred to as IT) services are produced and consumed. Cloud computing can directly drive better business outcomes for both producers and consumers of ICT. Yet Clouds also represent a fundamental shift in economic models, modes of operation and underlying technologies. This chapter focuses primarily on how cloud architectures, cloud technologies and enabling platforms drive better business outcomes for consumers. By consumer, we denote any internal or external customer consuming ICT services, whether in the enterprise or mass consumer market. By producer, we denote any internal or external entity producing ICT services, notably the IT function in large enterprises as well as external cloud service providers (CSPs).