The cloud business is currently being dominated by a scant few very influential global players who offer excellent services but are able to command the market as oligopolists. SMEs generally do not have access to sufficient human resources to tackle the massive challenges related to the introduction and use of complex new technologies. But if we allow the small and medium enterprises to be excluded from fundamental technological developments, then we must also be aware that this choice will have a huge effect on our European prosperity.
The various challenges that the Cloud Revolution entails affect the selection process for cloud services as well as their integration and operation. The hurdles on the path to effective service management in a heterogeneous multi-provider environment require not only IT security specialists but also know-how in the areas of legal compliance, data privacy, data centre operation, the quality of operative processes, and many more.
The long-predicted lack of specialists is now becoming a reality and a stumbling block for development and economic growth. Educational systems have not yet been appropriately adapted, and a uniform European fiscal and regulative framework is likewise still missing. Nevertheless, as a European one can at least proudly say that the European General Data Protection Regulation represents a fundamental milestone on the road to a sensible order for the digital transformation. The GDPR is “Europe at its finest”.
Dr. Tobias Höllwarth is President of EuroCloud Europe eurocloud.org, Director of the StarAudit Programme staraudit.org, and heads a European network of IT lawyers: cloudprivacycheck.eu/who/.
Photocredit: Elnur