Surely, one of the most popular buzz words since Web 2.0 has to be "Cloud Computing". The trouble is that there are many different schools of thought on what the Cloud is or should be. "Platform as a Service", "Software as a Service", "on-demand computing" and "Internet as a platform" are just some of the phrases used to define cloud computing. However you wish to call it, to me Cloud Computing is about history repeating itself, the next phase of a cycle. We're shifting software and data back from our desktop PCs to remote systems known collectively as "The Cloud"
Think about it, back in the beginning of computing, software ran on mainframes and super (for the time) computers and accessed through dumb terminals (thin clients) in a hub and spoke fashion. Fast forward a couple of decades and the personal computer is introduced, full of promise that software could now be installed on client machines. This eventually led to the client-server model, where fat-clients running software locally accessed data residing on central servers. Today, the focus is shifting away from the client back to the server which is now provided as a service and resides on the cloud. This does not mean that our clients are becoming thin again, quite the opposite - today's smart phones for instance really pack a punch hardware wise - however the applications themselves are being offered over the internet with no local installation necessary.
What's Great about The Cloud
For starters you don't need to worry about software installations, compatibility/ and updates. Cloud applications are offered as a service and accessed through the browser without the need for local installation. Another perk is the ability to be able to access your data and apps from anywhere, using any workstation. Since all your data and apps reside on the cloud, they can be accessed from anywhere greatly increasing your mobility.
Scalability is also another plus point. Businesses can request more processing power or storage on demand as required but can also scale back down again during off-peak/slow business periods, freeing up resources and lowering costs because you generally only pay what you use. So the scalability offered by the cloud is also very flexible.
Cost considerations are somewhat a double edged sword but what's certain is that if you opt for the cloud, your initial set-up costs are dramatically reduced. You will not be incuring costs for acquiring servers and no servers means no data centres with their high electricity bills. Maintenance and operational costs are also considerably reduced.
Your business can also focus more on strategic objectives because there is much less time spent on deployment, maintenance and operations.
So, What's not to Love
The biggest issues with cloud computing relate to service reliability/accessibility, security and privacy, or at least how they are perceived with respect to the cloud. Businesses that have their own data centres and have been sitting on their data since starting up will find it very hard to accept that moving that data to a 3'rd party's data centre might be the better option. The perceived loss of control in most cases overshadows the benefits gained by moving to the cloud.
Unfortunately, some of these concerns are well founded. How reliable is the service being provided? What kind of impact would temporary service unavailability have on your business? Can a business make sure that it can completely delete any of its data? What degree of control does the service provide? What happens to your data if you decide to switch providers? These questions are generally hard to answer. Although the idea behind cloud computing is fairly old, its implementation was not possible until very recently and legislation in respect of cloud computing is generally weak. To complicate things further, your data could be stored in different countries and different countries have different laws. There is still a way to go as far as legislation is concerned until we can start answering these questions properly
Unfortunately, some of these concerns are well founded. How reliable is the service being provided? What kind of impact would temporary service unavailability have on your business? Can a business make sure that it can completely delete any of its data? What degree of control does the service provide? What happens to your data if you decide to switch providers? These questions are generally hard to answer. Although the idea behind cloud computing is fairly old, its implementation was not possible until very recently and legislation in respect of cloud computing is generally weak. To complicate things further, your data could be stored in different countries and different countries have different laws. There is still a way to go as far as legislation is concerned until we can start answering these questions properly
Looking ahead
Legislation and perceptions notwithstanding, cloud computing is flourishing and seems to be the way forward. Office apllications such as Google Docs and Microsoft Office 365 are good examples of successful cloud services. CRMSs, online storage systems (Skydrive, DropBox etc) and other applications such as photo editing packages are all being offered as cloud services.
The real challenge will be the culture change required for businesses to shift their operations to the cloud.
The real challenge will be the culture change required for businesses to shift their operations to the cloud.
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