Cloud computing is not a cost-saving strategy, said a Defense Department official May 24 at an event in Fairfax, Va.

"If we're doing cloud purely to save money, we're going to fail," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven Spano, Air Combat Command Director of Communications A6, while speaking on a panel at an AFCEA International conference.

"You've got to look at it as a large investment in resources," he added. "And that will be the challenge."

Many DoD organizations see information technology as a cost center rather than a strategic asset, said Spano. Defense Department components should be aware that such perceived cost centers will likely experience budget cuts as a result of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' efficiency drive. Cloud computing buy in may require a cultural shift.

IT leaders can easily fall into the trap of over promising and under delivering when it comes to cloud computing, said Spano. "We have to be careful about what expectations we set until we define our strategy," he added.

Cloud computing can provide more agility and shorten delivery time, said David Drake, a technical adviser for information technology, communications and information at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

"If your metrics are about the number of databases or instances you really aren't looking at the right things," said Drake.

While cloud computing is a huge opportunity "there's a lot to it that we don't know about and will only be realized in terms of scale," said panelist Lee Badger, a computer scientist in the computer security division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. But such unknowns shouldn't stop organizations from perusing cloud adoption, Badger said.

Security and privacy arguments against cloud adoption are simply smoke screens for trust and control issues, said Spano, whose organization appears to be taking a calculated approach to cloud computing. "The early bird may get the worm, but remember: The second mouse gets the cheese," said Spano.

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