What can learning leaders take away from the cloud computing trend - from a technological and an organizational perspective - and apply to learning?
by Site Staff
January 24, 2010
If you’re using a computer in 2010, chances are you’re in the cloud.
Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. The term refers to a variety of Web-hosted services, such as e-mail, application development and virtualization, and it has become one of the most buzzed-about concepts among corporate leaders of late. According to Goldman Sachs investment research, roughly 10 percent of data center workloads could be cloud-based in the next three years.
While one could argue that it’s been in the works since the dawn of the computer itself, a few factors have accelerated attention to and development in cloud services. Most recently, with the economic downturn leading to chopped budgets enterprisewide, department heads have been and are still expected to do more with less. As a result, learning executives have been pressured to streamline processes and look for more cost-effective solutions.
Additionally, according to some industry experts, corporate learning itself is evolving in tandem with the creation of new Web 2.0 technologies, ultimately requiring increased adoption of virtual formats.
“Now, it’s no longer learning like there’s a curriculum and a subject — [learning is] being able to do something,” explained Jay Cross, CEO of Internet Time Group and a consultant on social learning issues. “That may be: ‘How do I put a euro sign into a document?’ Some oddball thing, and that’s all I need to do, and I can do that on the Internet [quickly]. Think of it as confidence rather than curriculum.”
This flexibility can assist in providing training on demand. Ian Knox, senior director of production management for Skytap, a provider of cloud-based virtual labs for application development, explains why this is needed.
“Student travel is less likely to happen these days,” Knox said. “People aren’t really being allowed away from the office as much. And in terms of delivering training, you have these issues with big capital expenditure of computer and lab equipment to make training happen. Most of that stuff just sits around and is only used for certain days when training runs, and it’s not scalable: If you have another 10 students, you can’t [accommodate them]. It’s not flexible or cost efficient.”
Cloud computing addresses these issues by providing widely accessible, on-demand, self-service tools and applications — all via pooled resources, which cuts down on cost.
Demystifying the Cloud
So what exactly is cloud computing? According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), cloud computing is defined as “a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”
To simplify it further, cloud computing typically refers to one of three service models: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). A helpful way to break it down is to think of it as a pyramid. On the top, you have SaaS, which refers to applications hosted entirely on the Internet — no software is installed on the desktop computer. Gmail, Google’s e-mail program, is a prime example. Most cloud vendors are offering this kind of service.
PaaS would come next. It refers to a virtual environment that allows IT developers to develop applications in the cloud as well as provides a platform for cloud programs to integrate.
At the bottom of the pyramid would be IaaS, possibly the most nebulous of all the cloud services. IaaS refers to a basic outsourcing model whereby a third-party service provider owns the equipment used to support operations such as storage, hardware, servers and networking and is responsible for running and maintaining them.
Taken as a whole, these three services allow organizations to create, run and store content online using shared providers, cutting down on costs and providing pay-for-use flexibility.
“It’s kind of like ‘utility’ computing — like the way you consume gas or electricity,” Knox said.
Up, Up and Away: Benefits of the Cloud
While it has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of organizational operations, cloud computing has a profound implication for learning specifically.
“It expands the scope of learning,” said Janet Clarey, an analyst with Brandon Hall Research. “It moves even beyond learning anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to log into a system to learn; you don’t have to pull down courses that are created by someone else. You’re able to go out and interact in a collaborative environment that exists outside of the organization — or sometimes even within the organization — [and] is very flexible.”
These collaborative environments include Web 2.0 technologies, such as communities of practices, wikis and microblogging tools, as well as cloud-hosted corporate learning content, Clarey said.
“Any sort of employees that work with information, knowledge workers, it allows them to collaborate on their own without having to wait for training,” she said. “So they’re able to work contact-specific, right on the job, and collaborate on projects, saving a significant amount of time and making jobs easier.”
Another benefit of cloud computing is the prospect of automation, Knox said.
“Lots of complex tasks [can] be handled automatically by the software that’s running in the cloud-computing environment,” he said. “That means the instructor can say, ‘OK, I’m going to set up one copy of my hands-on lab for my students,’ and then the system will replicate that environment automatically for all the students. You can set up an entire virtual training classroom in under a minute. Then when you’re done, you can hit delete, and all those machines go away.”
Not only is the learning environment more efficient and scalable, but getting things up and running takes a lot less time.
“Solutions delivered via the cloud are typically implemented in days, versus the weeks and months of legacy, on-premises software,” said Jason Blessing, group vice president for Taleo Business Edition.
Further, since cloud services are delivered on a subscription basis, rather than being a large, one-time purchase of software or equipment, retention of customers becomes a priority for vendors — and that likely means better quality of service.
“To remain relevant, [vendors] have to have a continual dialogue with [their] user community and constantly deliver value,” said Bob Moul, CEO of Boomi, a PaaS provider. “The end benefit for learning and training professionals is it’s not a dead system; it’s a living, breathing, growing, adapting and evolving system.”
An additional benefit to this model is that because everyone’s connected to the same system, when changes are made, each user gets them immediately. It also allows companies to inexpensively test out solutions for days, weeks or even months before committing to one particular service.
“It’s easy for people to experiment,” Cross said. “You can run cheap experiments — hundreds of them — and see which ones come through.” Cross explained that the old approach forced on organizations was: “Design a system and pray that it works, and then six months later say, ‘We should do something else.’”
The cost savings associated with the use of cloud services are also significant. First, the subscriptions themselves typically are less expensive than purchasing software. For example, a fully configured Taleo system starts around $1,000 a year. According to NIST, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) for Washington, D.C., has stated that the use of cloud applications can reduce IT and related expenditures between 50 and 90 percent.
Additionally, the ability to reach more people around the world could result in bottom-line business benefits such as increased skill level, productivity and engagement. Mark Filley, a technology operations specialist for Lombardi Software, said he saw this firsthand. His company often struggled with last-minute cancellations for employee training due to sudden work commitments or travel plans.
“We would have cancellations spike on Friday. We definitely had to have a solution that was on demand and flexible,” he said. “We’ve had so many people that can join our public open enrollment classes [now] because of the virtual [aspect].”
Cloud computing also allows learning professionals to find experts more easily, as well as connect learners with mentors around the world.
Prepare for Stormy Weather
As with any new technology, there are several key concerns learning executives should address before migrating over to the cloud.
For starters, NIST cites a 2008 study by IDC that asked participants to rate challenges ascribed to the “cloud” model on a scale of one to five, with one being “not significant” and five being “very significant.” About 75 percent of respondents ranked security a four or five, making it the No. 1 concern. This was followed by performance (63.1 percent), availability (63.1 percent), difficulty in integrating with in-house IT (61.1 percent), difficulty in bringing services back in-house (50 percent) and regulatory requirements that prohibit or limit cloud computing (49.2 percent).
In August 2009, Educause, a nonprofit that works to advance higher education through the use of information technology, published an article in which it said cloud computing “introduces significant concerns about privacy, security, data integrity, intellectual property management, audit trails and other issues.”
“A lot of those are legit,” Cross said. But he added that researcher and author Andrew McAfee has asked hundreds of companies about their primary fears in engaging in cloud computing. Respondents reported fearing that “somebody’s going to give away company secrets or that somebody’s going to criticize the company, or give advice on legal or medical matters, and that’s going to go public,” Cross said. “He searched far and wide and he hasn’t found anyone who has had this happen. It’s a myth.”
That said, companies can proactively work to mitigate potential security issues by developing and implementing a formal policy on cloud computing.
“There’s a danger if there’s not a well-understood policy and culture around what’s secret and what’s not,” Cross said. “Even if [companies] figure, ‘We don’t allow any of this stuff,’ they still better have a policy.”
To create a truly effective policy, however, learning professionals first must envision the big picture.
Moul emphasized that there is no cutting corners on that. “I don’t think any technology shortcuts the need to understand your road map and your framework of how you want your business to run and how the applications need to work together,” he said.
In fact, since cloud computing is still relatively new, the integration piece itself could pose a challenge. Moul said about 75 percent of Boomi’s clients have some applications running in the cloud and some running on-site, meaning they need to find a way to allow all of these programs to communicate with each other.
Further, “some enterprise organizations have controls about what you can install on a machine, so that can be a challenge,” Knox said. “Again, you should do a trial to find out if there are any kinks you need to iron out.”
Filley said Lombardi Software encountered this issue when trying to deliver virtual learning via the cloud.
“Whatever your hosted learning solution is, you need to make sure well in advance that your participants know it and it’s clearly understood what software they have to install,” he said, adding that it could take a week or more to get the IT department involved and sort out all the necessary permissions.
In fact, since cloud computing will require greater collaboration and communication between learning and IT departments, Knox suggested companies deal head-on with a potential culture clash.
“If there are IT folks that are responsible for on-site environments or on-site software that’s being used by the training department, the move to a cloud approach can be a little threatening,” Knox said. “They think that this could potentially eliminate their job or make them less needed in an organization. That’s not typically the case. Typically what happens is the IT folks take on a different role, which is more of a management and policies [role]. [But] I think culturally there are some barriers.”
Future Forecast
Cloud computing is undeniably still in the early stages of adoption, but as with the Internet itself, it’s here to stay. Experts across the board believe it’s not a matter of if learning executives should consider using cloud services, but when.
“It’s not ‘Are we going to do social media in-house or not?’ It’s ‘How much are we going to do it?’” Cross said. “People are already doing it. I think a lot of this is fear of change and change in power positions as a result of it.”
As Knox put it, “Adopting these things earlier rather than later makes a lot of sense.”
Further, with the way people learn changing, the learning industry as a whole is changing as a result.
“Universities talk about a personal learning environment that’s got to be transportable,” Cross said. “People need to look at the mesh between the corporation and the outside world.”