One area that students tend to have a little trouble with in Cloud Essentials is the subtle (and not so subtle) differences we are expected to know between the use of public cloud and outsourcing. After all, at first glance, the use of public cloud really seems to be pretty identical to outsourcing your IT.

Here are the ways in which the two are very similar. Memorize these if you are getting ready for your exam:

• Your IT department lacks some skills that are required in order for you to get some project or goal achieved; this is why you might do public cloud or outsourcing
• You lack the physical assets you need to get the job done so you outsource or use public cloud
• You might get a “vendor lock-in” situation in either case, where you are pretty much stuck with that vendor for a longer time period than you might want

Here are ways in which the two differ – again – you should memorize these if the exam is in your future:

• Public cloud is very specific to IT, where outsourcing can encompass many non-IT aspects of your business
• Outsourcing tends to feature much longer contract lengths and more involved contract terms; with cloud computing, we do not have to be locked into long or complex contracts
• Outsourcing tends to offer much more granular options than with public cloud; for example, you might outsource front line support for a single application and the outsourcing company will provide the staff that are very knowledgable in that application

Be on the lookout for more posts that will challenge you in the tougher areas of Cloud Essentials! Thanks for reading!