Both sides, now - are we builders or users of services in the cloud?

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all"
(Joni Mitchell – Both sides, now)

As an educational charity with a mission to "realise the benefits of ICT for learners and researchers", Eduserv must constantly ask itself how to make the best of its available resources for the benefit of the community.

What kinds of services should we be offering? What maximises our impact?

The answers lie in the expectations, needs and desires of the education community itself. But in an environment where the "cloud" offers us an increasing array of apparently very high quality, very low cost services, those answers are not necessarily easy to come by.

These issues affect not just Eduserv, but funding bodies, institutions and individuals in the community.

For those of you at ALT-C 2008, I'll be thinking about this stuff out loud in our sponsor's session - Wednesday, 11.00am in the Conference Auditorium 1. You are very welcome to come and help me shape my thoughts.

Comments

[AndyP]

For the record... I won't be singing!