[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGU8F9s6OBA&w=560&h=349]

Cloud, cloud, cloud, and did I mention "Cloud?" Yes, that was the buzz at Interop in Las Vegas this year, but you had to dig down deeper to realize that "the cloud" has a much deeper story, and it's this: Since the cloud offers professional grade IT capabilities to literally anyone, there's been an extreme democratization of IT. Many users are doing IT on their own, requiring IT departments to work directly with their users. That's the view of Lenny Heymann, General Manager of Interop, the largest independent conference on IT networking. Heymann is fascinated with how the cloud is forcing the role of IT to change and become more of a partnership with an organization's users. It's less of an us vs. them mentality. Relationship building around that will be a critical distinction for the next wave of IT professionals. If you can actually work with users and foster a partnership, you'll be more successful in IT, Heymann believes. The cloud has finally broken through to be completely legitimate to all. Naysayers are dropping away. But to limit the cloud to being just be an issue of "How to map current IT problems" is missing the point. The cloud is forcing real change in business, specifically in the data center, where more applications will spring up and have greater significance.