phideltacity

On September 1st we saw a major outage of the GMail web-interface. Google has since made some statements via the the Official GMail Blog. All in all the issue was not a major blow to the world as one might have suspected before-hand. In fact the world has pretty much gone on as before simply doing a smooth failover.
This means that we know how to fail over, but it also debunks a myth that has been used my cloud-computing enthusiasts to acquire new customers: “The cloud will always stay up”.
That statement has just proven false by the most potent cloud currently in existence. That still does not mean that cloud computing does not have its merits; I actually use several cloud services myself and for good reason. However it does out the “we are always reliable” as the marketing speak and myth it is.
I think it is time that cloud evangelists looked at the facts and then used those to promote cloud services. There are after all a few very excellent reasons to use cloud services.

• Cloud- Services are globally accessible
• Cloud-Services are scalable on short notice
• Cloud-Services outsource to shared cost operations
• Cloud-Services reduce the initial investment

Cloud- Services are globally accessible

Contrary to many internal IT-Systems cloud services are reachable from anywhere in the world. Now that may not be important to someone spending their day in a cubicle, but it is crucial to someone that needs access to their data on the go.
Unfortunately this also means that this data is reachable from any crackers computer as well. However the security measures in place are usually sufficient to alleviate that risk, especially if your own usage habits are in tune with the security requirements imposed on you. Also, as Bruce Schneier tirelessly reminds us, most security breaches are not perpetrated by outsiders, but by insiders. And then there is the saying that “most data leaks occur not because someone breaches your security, but because your communications partner discloses information”.
Taking all of this into account, the decision can become one based on a risk/benefit analysis.

Cloud-Services are scalable on short notice

IT-Infrastructure costs money. That’s a well understood fact. And that means businesses all over the world hate to buy IT-Infratructure; unless that is they really need it. The problem is that when they need the infrastructure, they usually need it yesterday. They need it the moment their existing capacity reaches its limits. So prudence would dictate, that you have at least some additional capacity in store to meet the demand when it is required. Well I guess it has become obvious that this directly conflicts with the presumptions that ” businesses all over the world hate to buy IT-Infratructure”.
Cloud-Services provide a bandaid to this vicious circle by shortening the time from the emerging need for new infrastructure elements to their deployment to hours instead of days or weeks. How do they do this?

Cloud-Services outsource to shared cost operations

Well they do that by creating “cooperatives” (yeah that’s the stuff you learned in social studies when doing the Soviet Union ). Simply put they share the cost of buying new infrastructure among multiple customers. So they’ll always have enough spares to put up when their customers need them, presuming that not all of their customers will need to upgrade at the same time.
And because the term “cooperative” has been so damaged by history they simply call it cloud computing and sell it under that name. And since it turns a tidy profit, it’s a very good demonstration of capitalism at work.
The downside to this is that if you run at average usage, you are actually paying more for your computing power than you would if you were to own the equipment outright.
But at that point it becomes again a simple cost/benefit analysis that can lead you to a decision.

Cloud-Services reduce the initial investment

That analysis has another component to it that comes into play especially when you are a cash strapped start-up. Your initial investment in infrastructure becomes significantly lowered. You can therefore also lower your risk. Now if you don’t have the cash to buy your own, Cloud-Services enable you to still start your own venture. So while you are paying a bit more for your computing needs than you otherwise would, you are actually able to do so at all.

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So below the line Cloud-Services have their benefits as well as draw backs. The GMail outage just demonstrated some of the drawbacks of the Cloud to us. However as we learn to accept and deal with its problems Cloud-Services will prove to be huge enablers of new enterprises that may change our future lives.