Cloud computing is reshaping IT organizations. At the same time, its increasing role in the enterprise is changing enterprise architecture dynamics. That's an issue we've been following at the Smart Architect group here at Smart Enterprise Exchange, and we thought it might be one Cloud Computing group members would like to explore, too. So, below we've included links to some articles and blogs recently posted at Smart Architect that you might like to check out.

A Color-by-Numbers Kit for Private Cloud Architecture

Cloud and Mobile Computing: Better Together

Enterprise architects must figure out how to leverage the proliferation of end-user computing devices, smartphones and tablets in particular, and exploit their natural synergy with the cloud for long-term business advantage. But first, they need to nail down their mobile and cloud strategies.

Cloud Economics For the Enterprise Architect

Talk to an enterprise architect about the cloud, and you’re likely to hear him or her say that it’s an opportunity to cut future costs. .

Future growth — and savings as that growth takes place — is assured by access to a virtually unlimited pool of hardware and software resources that are used only as needed, avoiding waste at every turn.

Five Ways Enterprise Architects Can Set Cloud Standards

One thing that was demonstrated by recent problems in the cloud — notably, the high-profile outage of Amazon’s S3 storage service — is that it’s incumbent on enterprise architects to establish procedures, processes and standards for dealing with cloud service providers.

New Book's Advice to Enterprise Architects: Carpe Cloud

The disconnect that still exists between IT and the business in many organizations — and which creates problems in data and process integration and maintenance when business units sign up for cloud services without reference to IT — actually can be an opportunity for enterprise architects.

The Technical Perspective On Which Workloads Should Move to the Cloud

The enterprise architect's biggest motivation should be to solve business problems. But sometimes the reasons for an architecture decision are purely technical. And, in the case of cloud computing, what goes up will not come down, so to speak. This blog explores the main technical drivers for determining what should become a cloud service.

Architecting the Cloud: Which Workloads Should Move First?

When it comes to beginning to architect your cloud strategy, you first need to determine what you want from the cloud: whether it will be public or private or even hybrid; what components in your architecture are candidates; and then how to deploy, monitor and administer your cloud services.

Cloud Computing and Your Very Relevant Enterprise Architecture

The cloud most certainly does not make the enterprise architecture function irrelevant. It’s been discussed, of course, that accounting for business service organization and management — whether those services hail from the external cloud or not — is a key part of the enterprise architect’s role. Add to that the fact that enterprises are seriously invested in private clouds within their own firewalls, inside their own data centers, and managed with internal resources, or in hybrid models, and it’s hard to see how cloud computing can be separated from the enterprise architect’s purview.

Time to Revisit Your Cloud Strategy

As more mission-critical services move to the cloud, incorporate these questions and ideas into your cloud architecture strategy review plans.

We welcome your thoughts and feedback on these articles and commentary! See you at Smart Architect!

--Jennifer Zaino, Executive Editor, Smart Architect