I've been reviewing a lot of Micro Focus Live presentations and videos from industry experts and customers that have already started work on their Cloud deployments over the past few days ready for the full launch on May 11th.

I've noticed some very clear themes emerging:

• The drive is on in IT to cut costs. I know - that's a "duh!" statement but it is real and, whatever concerns some organizations may have about making the move to the Cloud, they all agree that the benefits of "pay as you go", scalable resources, shifting from Capital Expense to Operating Expense, or outsourcing non-critical systems are all real opportunities to cut costs and maintain or improve services
• There are concerns about vendor lock-in and data security but the tipping point where those concerns are outweighed by cost or flexibility benefits varties across systems and some applications or organizations will be able to move more quickly than others
• At some point in the next 3 - 5 years, everyone involved with IT today will have something in their portfolio affected by the Cloud.

OK, nothing particularly earth shattering here but it is clear that there is a wide variety of experience and information being provided at Micro Focus Live and for anyone trying to work out what the potential benefits and opportunities, as well as how to make the move with the least risk this really is a unique collection of great resources.