OK, I have to give props to my colleague Eric Zillmer for affiliating that Rolling Stones song with cloud computing, but I thought it was pretty clever, so I am reusing it (thanks Eric).
Last time, I discussed the merits and pitfalls of social networking in the business environment. As discussed, there's no doubt that social networking will have a prominent place in business, but the "build it and they will come" strategy doesn't work. Unless people are compelled to use social technologies at work, they just won't do it. It's incumbent on the business and the IT organization to work together to identify those compelling applications that will ultimately draw in the users in an enterprise.
So, now we move on to cloud computing. It too, is a technology that ultimately came to be from the consumer space from vendors like Google (gmail and Google Apps), Microsoft (Hotmail and MSN) and America OnLine (AOL). But, Cloud computing also has its roots in application service providers like Salesforce.com and hosting companies like Rackspace. So out of the gate, the cloud has a leg up in the business environment.
But what exactly is "the cloud"? And why should Enterprises care about it? Well, there are many definitions to be found, so let's just agree to a couple of simple ones to get everyone on the same page. Cloud computing comes in two basic flavors: public and private. Public means that all of the systems hosting the applications are owned by someone other than the private enterprise using the applications, and systems are being shared by many enterprises at one time. Private cloud means that the systems hosting the applicaitons are being used privately by a single enterprise, and may or may not be located in the enterprise's data center. Sometimes a private cloud will be employed for security or data integration reasons.
Both public and privte clouds share some common attibutes:
Both employ technologies to allow very fast server or application provisioning. That is, if a developer needs a new server to host an application, they can typically make the request at a web-based portal and have the server running in a matter of minutes. As well, the subscriber of the service can also scale the size of the service very quickly to meet demand. More memory, processor, storage, etc. are almost immediately available at the click of a mouse.
Next, both cloud types provide variable pricing. That is, the subscriber of the cloud service only pays for what they use, no matter how much hardware the vendor has in their data center.
Finally both public and private clouds tend to deliver tiers of service:
First, there's Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)... that is, a server of some type (windows, Linux, etc) that only contains an operating system, and that operating system needs to be managed by the subscriber. Of course, that server is connected to a network and some sort of file storage, but all of that is invisible to the subscriber. The the only responsibility that the vendor has is to make sure the hardware is running. The basic advantage of IaaS is quick provisioning, variable cost, and elimination of internal data center real estate. Because the subscriber is responsible for maintaining the environment, they have complete control of that server.
Next is Platform as a Service (PaaS). This service inludes everything that the Iaas includes, but also adds tools and services to facilitate application development. This is valuable, for example, when a widely distributed development team needs to have access to central system which will allow all members of the team to collaborate on the creation of an application. An example could be a system with Microsoft .NET tools, or a PHP development environment, or perhaps Ruby on Rails, all types of web or client application development systems. Like with IaaS, PaaS is typically maintained by the subscriber, but heavy customization and flexibility is available.
The final tier is Software as a Service (SaaS). This is a service where a vendor offers a discrete application to subscribers, typically with a per user, per month pricing model. These applications can range from Customer Relationship Management to Email to Work Order Management systems and a whole lot more. In most cases, flexibility and customization are not allowed. The subscriber uses the application "out of the box" rather than having the ability to change it to meet specific needs. The advantage if this type of service is the avoidance of the capital expenditures typically required to run such an application in an enterprise's data center, which can be extensive, depending on the application. Also, the cost varability mentioned in the previous service is also an advantage, especially for organizations that tend to have staff fluxuations. Also, SaaS tends to be associate with public clouds only.
By the way, there is a concept of a third cloud type, called a Hybrid cloud, but the reality is, it's not separate type of cloud provider, but rather, it's simply a combined use of public and private clouds, with a special software layer, called orchestration, that allows a subscriber to request a service (IaaS, PaaS or SaaS), and the orchestration layer decides whether to use a publicor private resource. This premise of course assumes that an enterprise has both at it's disposal and has determined the rules for the use of one over another.
So, why should Enterprises care about the cloud? Well, a couple of reasons are mentioned above. Capital cost avoidance is a big one. Any time large computer systems can be obtained as an expense rather than through capital expenditures, financial advantages can be gained. And we're not just talking about the computer hardware, networking, floor and rack space, power and air conditioning that can be expensed and variabilized. We're also talking about expensive software licensing from companies such as Microsoft and Oracle. The typical procurement model for these applicaitons requires a fixed number of users for a fixed number of years with large ongoing maintenance agreements, and allows for zero variability. Using cloud-based services can allow a company to completely escape having to enter into these handcuff agreements.
But these are just the obvious financial beneifts. Another benefit is mobility. When services, like email, business and productivity applications can be offered on the cloud, users can not only access them from anywhere, but also access them from a wide variety of devices. This not only give an enterprise's users the freedom of device and work location choice, but it also can allow an enterprise to greatly reduce the "weight" of the computing devices it provides to its users. That is, these devices can be simple internet devices that access all applications via web browsers, eliminating the need to distribute and manage local software, or even eliminating laptops or desktops running Windows or some other full operating system.
And finally, there's agility. Cloud providers have HUGE infrastructures. More server, networks, racks, and storage systems that can be imagined. And all of that infrastructure translates into an enterprise's ability to provision as little or as much infrastructure, platform or software as needed, pretty much at an instant. While not every company has huge swings in their business demands, such as retailers at Christmas, or pizza joints during the Super Bowl, but no matter what the demand curve, the cloud can provide a solution that allows an enterprise to be far more agile than when utilizing resources in their own data center.
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Companies aren't sitting still with regards to adopting a cloud model. Some might say companies been using the cloud for years with services like expense processing, Corporate Travel services, Payroll) and others. But those are just individual decisions made to avoid certain expenditures, such as in-house infrastructure, or non-core-competency expertise. It's now time to establish a global cloud strategy and begin our great migration toward that strategy so that we can also take advantage of agility, mobility, variability, availability and all the other "abilities" that the cloud can bring. You can bet your competitors are figuring out how to use it to their advantage, and you should be doing the same. I hope that when the dust settles, my company will actually be far ahead of our competition in the Information Solutions that we provide to our users, partners and of course, our customers!
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