With the new version of Firefox coming right around the corner and enabling web-based applications to run locally, the new enterprise might be on the verge of coming into being. This article at Systems Management News talks about the growing struggle between IT and computing in the cloud, and Andrew McAfee at Harvard Business School has been teaching and writing about the next generation enterprise for a little while now.

Computing in the cloud refers to all those applications that people use out in the wilds of the Internet - things like Google Docs, Facebook applications, and Salesforce. Many of them are free while others are not, but the main thing is that the software your organization uses is outside the control of IT. That has a lot of repercussions, but I want to focus on the opportunities for now. In order to evaluate an option, you have to know the benefits so that you can judge the costs in context.

In most scenarios, computing in the cloud shifts or changes responsibility. We don't have to worry about running servers or maintaining software, but we have to worry about how the provider does those things and whether we can live with their practices. In other words, the work becomes more front-loaded rather than ongoing. For a company that uses Google Docs for office productivity, the work primarily goes into evaluating their needs and judging the fit of Google Docs to their organization. After working with users on some best practices, it becomes largely a user support activity as opposed to a systems administration activity.

Now I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be face-to-face with users helping them with problems instead of making things happen behind the scenes. We all know that making systems run smoothly is seldom appreciated while problems draw lots of attention. It really is a question of outsourcing, now with more options. By focusing less on infrastructure and more on solutions to real problems, we gain some potential for greater impact on the organization that makes IT more visible as a valuable asset.

As Software as a Service and SOA come closer together, I think computing in the cloud will grow even more. As more applications become available and the Facebook generation joins the workforce, companies will likely struggle with how they can get the power of cloud computing while being sure they address the risks.