While the boundary between IT and the Cloud continues to blur, they are nevertheless complimentary to one another. Granted, the Cloud is becoming more influential in shaping the role of IT services in business, properly applied technology into a new Cloud environment can yield huge rewards for the enterprise that deploys these assets wisely. Cloud computing represents alternatives as well, acting as an email and FTP Replacement for document sharing, for example. 

The shifting role of IT is becoming more visible as the corporate space adapts to Cloud computing technologies. It has slowly pulled away from ‘ownership’ and now falls more into a ‘management’ status. In other words, technology systems aren’t static operational resources anymore – they play a much larger role in acquisitions and growth, especially within the cloud.

No longer does a system administrator simply own and govern the IT infrastructure. Instead, the role is a managerial one, with many technology assets being leveraged for diverse internal support and external services. CIOs are now able to bolster IT as a value-add component of the business rather than a cost center, and that role has come to be expected of them. Furthermore, IT pros have a more dynamic position, tasked with strategically advising the business and blazing trails into new territories.

Because of the tremendous leaps ahead in automation and accessibility with the Cloud, technology professionals are liberated from time-sapping tasks that were previously performed manually. Instead, these IT admins can now focus on managing and building an array of versatile cloud services. The role of the tech leadership within the business space is changing much like the role of IT itself.

The assumption that IT personnel are being replaced by automation is a fallacy. These people are more important than ever, having been freed up to reach their full potential and serve as a crucial conduit between the Cloud, the company and its users. That’s not to say that these administrators no longer perform administrative functions. They are simply shifting the admin scope to a Cloud-minded role, responsible for governing the services and assets from a different angle and with more flexibility.

Adapting to new Cloud technologies and new infrastructures can indeed require an IT overhaul for most companies. The good news is that the migration process is less of a headache when the CIO and the executive leadership have a good understanding of shifting roles of IT personnel and the technology itself.