BOOK REVIEW
The Decision-Maker’s Guide to Cloud Strategy and Governance

Reviewed by Robin Smith, Information Risk Governance Programme Lead, University Hospitals of Leicester

The gold rush to migrate to a cloud computing has seen an exponential rise in the services and products being offered to organisations. Amongst the many competitors IBM’s ‘Smart Cloud’ offering is now tackling major questions arising during the era of ‘Big Data’.

The explosion in cloud computing and the linked issues of security and costs have left many information and knowledge professionals bemused as to its relevance to business information management. Fortunately this new publication from the Ark Group provides a cohesive and clear-sighted assessment of the key issues, risks and threats arising from this emergent area of information management.

Across the six chapters and a series of highly interesting case studies drawn from a diverse array of industries including the legal and communications sector the authors engage all of the pertinent issues of concern to information and records professionals.

The array of authors brings a multiplicity of views on issues including the cloud as a platform, software as a service and related issues and risks. The publication also outlines how to develop a corporate strategy for deploying cloud services as part of the organisational information strategy with clear pointers on how to develop a business case for senior management to assess and authorise.

The best elements of this publication focus on the highly charged issues of information security and risk management for cloud services. Chapter five runs fluently through the vital issues of privacy, data protection and intellectual property in a comprehensible yet authoritative fashion that would allow any information and knowledge professional to advocate for an organisation to migrate to this new form of service delivery.

The publication also illuminates technical issues with a range of insights from knowledge professionals including Mark O’Conor and Justin Pirie who have been cited widely as experts in this new area of information and knowledge management.

The final chapter on the future of the cloud is a hugely impressive piece of future gazing that will inform and engage, bringing light to a subject that is rocketing up corporate agendas requiring every information and knowledge professional to form a clear opinion.

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