An IT era without hardware and software

Do you see the cloud is coming? Soon, you will not buy hardware and software. Well, you still need a basic computer to type and connect the Internet. But your company will have no more a data center with all the wired servers. They are over the cloud. And the software to run your company, like the ERP system, the email system, the database, and the computation software, are all running on the cloud. And the pieces of the software are interconnected and interoperated. You will have a what so called collaborative working environment where you can connect to your colleagues, the database, the files, and the internal and external info you need for your work.

Is the cloud far away? Check the saleforce.com’s work. They bring the cloud over your head. It is very ambitious of them to provide the whole solution from the hosting service to the development process. You can build your IT solution on top of their service. You do not need people to do the backup, to maintain the hardware, and to keep the server running. But you still need developers to develop new business apps for your own company. That is going to be your IT department. So, the CIO’s function is reduced, and more close to the business operation.