Just want to address a

vishal j — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:36:11 -0700

Just want to address a operational concern related to the cloud computing. What about the application migration from the stand alone enviornment ot the cloud computing model ? What about the cost and other enhancement part of migration?

On the first, second, and

Geoffrey Routledge — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:11:13 -0700

On the first, second, and fourth points, folks like Salesforce.com have had to deal with thiat for years and from their success one can conclude that these issues are sufficiently addressed.

On the point about management, there is a long way to go, but companies like Hyperic show promise.

One additional point that could be added is integration. If one business process is handled by, say, Salesforce.com and another by EC2, how can we integrate the data or process in a manageable way?

I manage a datacenter for a medium sized ($3B) manufacturing company and what gets me jazzed up about cloud computing is that I'll be able to be much more nimble with these variable-cost infrastructure elements when the business units or application teams come asking for new servers and storage to support their latest SOA initiative (for example). It's not so much about the unit cost of a megahertz-minute or a gigabyte-month (although I expect that to be compelling too). The question for me is whether we could just do this ourselves with a very well run virtualized infrastructure - but this, too, is non-trivial.

Well written article Frank.

Bert Armijo — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:45:31 -0700

Well written article Frank. It's good to see some folks still remember time sharing.

One additional question potential users may want to consider; is the whether system is centralized or distributed and available in multiple locations or from multiple vendors. Having multiple locations available makes it easier for subscribers to build for business continuity and provide rich responsive user interfaces throughout the world.

Five cloud computing questions

IDG News Service — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:04:08 -0700

It seems that every decade or so I get the opportunity to write an article on IT déjà vu. This time around, the topic is cloud computing, which is the latest IT buzz word.

My first reaction to the term was confusion. The amorphous "cloud" has been used for decades to symbolize a WAN that connected clients to server-based data centers. Is cloud computing another version of network computing? Yes, but this cloud is not just any WAN; it is a synonym for the Internet. Nothing new here. The Internet has been around for over two decades.

OK, let us look at what form of computing in being provided via the cloud. In this model, all IT applications and facilities (i.e. compute, storage and network) are provided as a service rather than dedicated infrastructure. This is intended to allow any user, independent of client platform, to access IT services without knowledge or concern of their location or form. Sound familiar -- it's a service-oriented architecture (SOA)!

Additionally, cloud computing incorporates almost every computing manifestation within the IT world: distributed, grid, utility, on-demand, open source; Web services; P2P; Web 2.0 and, last but not least, software as a service.

It also accommodates thin, thick and mobile clients, and allows integration of corporate, commercial and service provider cloud-accessed resources. As an example, in this model, storage is a service resource that is accessed via the cloud, not a dedicated user resource.

Cloud computing vendors will invoice their customers on a utility (such as electricity) or a subscription (such as a newspaper) basis.

Evolutionary, but not revolutionary. As early as 1970, IBM championed a concept called "time sharing." Users shared common IT resources and applications on a mainframe computer simultaneously with other users for variable fees that were dependent upon usage and consumed resources.

Minimal CAPEX, low barrier to entry, shared IT infrastructure as well as shared costs, outsourced OPEX, low management overhead and immediate access to a broad range of business and IT applications are all benefits of time sharing. Almost 40 years later, we are back full circle to cloud computing.

Déjà vu, but with a 21st century twist. Virtualization, autonomics, open standards, massive resource scaling, dynamic resource provisioning, mobile broadband access, the IP Internet, Ethernet LANs, computer-based smart clients, NAS, dense low-cost RAID storage, DBMS, ESB, information management, system/network management and security software, etc., did not exist in the age of time sharing.

Cloud computing will undoubtedly show up first in the SMB and the consumer marketplaces. Where minimal cost is an issue, cloud computing will become a viable IT alternative. The corporate environment is another issue. The major issues that brought about the demise of time sharing also plague cloud computing.

Five questions need definitive answers to satisfy corporate cloud computing buyer concerns.

The first question is Security. What about potential unauthorized access, inappropriate use and loss of control of proprietary corporate information and IT applications? Who is responsible for corporate policy distribution, management and control?

The second question is Performance. Quality of service commitments and service-level agreements from cloud computing vendors may not meet corporate availability, legal, budget and insurance requirements. Who is responsible for loss of revenue/profits from a significant cloud computing outage, high network load or insufficient bandwidth access due to denial of service?

The third question is Management. It is exceedingly difficult to manage and administer a corporate virtualized IT environment. It may be impossible or impractical to attempt to manage the cloud. What tools exist for the buyer to monitor and manage multiple cloud computing vendors and their products?

The fourth question is Governance and Regulatory Compliance. Outsourcing of any services brings into question oversight and the cloud computing vendor procedures, processes, internal tools and third-party auditor access. What vendor-supplied software tools exist for the buyer to provide for cloud computing vendor governance and regulatory compliance?

The fifth and final question is Financial - the classical issue of a variable vs. fixed-cost management. Corporate CFOs demand budgets to be projected with accuracy, committed to as part of a financial allocation plan and managed with continual diligence and oversight. How do you control IT costs in a services and cloud computing utility billing model, and when should a cloud computing variable cost be converted to an internal IT fixed cost?

Cloud computing will usher in the IT age of the services delivery provider in a similar manner to Internet communications creating the age of the Internet service provider. Every major Internet vendor, IT vendor and carrier wants to be an SDP. Their success and cloud computing's success will depend on their answers to the above five questions.

Is cloud computing just time sharing déjà vu? Not from a 21st century technical perspective but from a corporate benefits/concerns perspective they seem to be one and the same.

The Industry Standard - Five cloud computing questions - Comments

Just want to address a

On the first, second, and

Well written article Frank.

Five cloud computing questions