"This is where the value equation has to be clear, not just a vague promise of saving money," Daley said. "The CIO's role in the future will be more that of a deliverer or aggregator of services. We see the CIO's role increasingly focused on helping the business with its goals rather than functioning as a cost center."
For now, an enterprise's adoption of cloud computing services depends on what type of CIO it has. In many cases, there is a technology-triggering event like a merger or acquisition, Crawford said. "We see those types of customers go almost by necessity to some type of consumption or pay-as-you-go model."
A second type of CIO is starting to transform the IT department to emphasize business analytics and looks at different divisions as customers. "Having the business unit performing well is what's important there," he said. "For the really progressive CIOs, it's not about server uptime but about application performance and availability."
Crawford cautions that enterprises are not talking about shutting down their data centers and moving everything to the cloud. "We see mostly triggering events, and enterprises need to understand the importance of the application, because not all applications are good to run in the cloud."
If OTT cloud providers are to be successful, they may have to build network partnerships to gain access to the intelligent network that can address security, visibility, reliability and application performance. When it comes to what could inhibit the adoption of cloud computing services, Cisco's Scott believes you can't abstract the cloud from the network, because the network is the platform.
This article originally appeared in SearchTelecom.com