10%! This is one of the interesting findings from the ISACA North American IT Risk/Reward Barometer. The Risk/Reward Barometer also found that almost half of the respondents say the risks of cloud computing outweigh the benefits,but keep in mind, this needs to be balanced with the drivers from the business to drive value for technology, increase flexibility and speed to market. These are prefect examples of where the business drivers must be key components in balancing risk and reward as organizations look to drive profitable growth.  

To take advantage of the paradigm shift occurring in the industry, Service Management and Governance professionals MUST take into consideration with their planning and delivery of IT the importance of enabling the ability to allow the business to accept any risk profile in relation to growth--which, in order to do so, governance processes must form part of the service delivery DNA or the organizaiton will not be able to react at "cloud speed." Unfortunately, this means that some IT professionals may soon be irrelevant. 

Industry professionals should review the risks and rewards of cloud computing which are examined in more detail in the fee white ISACA white paper.

The reality is that the datacenter is no longer a fortified castle--parts of the IT fabric are in all aspects of the service chain and may not be under our direct control.  Therefore, we must build the correct risk identification and acceptance processes into our IT environment and if you are not already you need to provide the business with the ability to accept risk. The only way that you can do this and remain relevant is with automation - more on that soon.

So take a few moments to download the survey results and consider your position.