Are Hosted Services the Way Forward?

As organisations face ever-increasing demands to drive down costs, leading them to consolidate within the IT infrastructure, hosted services can seem like an attractive alternative. Much has been written about one such service - cloud computing for example, but is it all just hype - a 'cloud wash' - or are there some real benefits for businesses.

Likewise - virtualisation - how will it impact on hosted services? Is Software-as-a-Service where the use of this technology is heading, and where does business process outsourcing fit into the equation? With any hosted service, there will always be pros and cons to consider, however the costs to the business of getting it wrong can be potentially so severe, a clear understanding of what it is and can truly offer your organisation is vital.

This discussion will review current hosted services on offer, addressing the important questions to ask yourself when considering if it is the right choice for you, including:
 
- How do you evaluate which hosted services are worth investing in
- Seeing through the hype!
- How does your decision on how far to commoditise align with the maturity of your IT and your organisation?
- Outlining the benefits and pitfalls of current hosted services on offer, such as cloud computing and virtualisation
- Assessing the legal issues
- What is essential to consider within any service-level agreement?
- Is outsourcing a safer bet?
- Can you consolidate too far - What should you put into a hosted service and what must you keep within the business?