Cloud Computing ? Cloud Opportunity !
Posted 26 June 2008 @ 11:44 am by Jim LiddleThere has been a lot of talk around Cloud Computing, a lot in the press, and it is currently the buzzword for the analysts. It’s often referred interoperably with software-as-a-service (SAAS) as both models offer computing on demand. Make no mistake Cloud Computing is not a fad and its not something for the future. It is here now and it is here to stay. In the future we will see more and more organisations shift from hosting their own services in DataCentre’s to using a “Cloud Platform” in which their services are stored. This cloud platform could use something like Amazon EC2 which provides the basic infrastructure or it could be Amazon EC2 + GigaSpaces if you require SLA guarantee’s, low latency, and the ability to scale out as well as handle spikes in service demand. Alternatively it could be Google Gears which acts as the cloud middleware and which enables you to have offline as well as an online capability.
For some organisations it will take a while to feel comfortable having their data and service held offline hosted by a cloud provider. In particular this occurs within the finance domain, although I have no doubt that, over time, this will change. The Security levels are already available, it is more to do with the level of comfort they feel about doing this with what they regard as their IP. Even for these organisations the Cloud offers opportunities as well as savings. Having to wait 3 months or more for provisioning some equipment to do some design or test ? No longer, just rent by the hour at a click of a button and then tear the whole thing down when you are done. Need to prove your app’ can scale out over 100’s of servers but finding hardware to do this proving difficult ? Just rent as much as you need for 48 hours to do your real world scalability testing.
For Online organisations (web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0) the choice is more clear cut. Why would you not do it ? You are in the bsiness of selling a service not maintaining middleware.
The Cloud also reduces the barriers to entry. Had a great idea for a while but couldn’t work out how you would get the budget together to showcase your application ? No problem, the cloud services are perfect for this. For traders, and those in other Domains with specialist knowledge the Cloud offers an opportunity to build your amazing idea or service and compete with the big boys.
Lets say you had an idea for an online app that needed to interact with mobile. You could build the service in Google Gears so that it can be accessed online and also for mobile. And if the network onnection goes down you can continue to work offline be in your browser or on your phone and then the synchronisation servers can resync neext time you are back online. Now think about this, think about all the things you would need to do if you were to build the application yourself and also figure out the infrastrcture to allow this functionality as well as ensuring the hosting was always available,
I’m not saying that the Cloud is the panacea for all things to do with infastructure and IT but I believe it does provide some incredible opportunities for those willing to take them.
