A View from the Cloud

Following up on previous blogs of cloud computing, I thought I'd point readers to an interesting article from a variety of different academics which relates to Cloud Computing. These academics are associated with the UC Berkeley Reliable Adaptive Distributed Systems Laboratory (RAD Lab) and have written a report on cloud computing which was published in the Communications of the ACM journal published April 2010.

To summarize the journal article the authors describe cloud computing; "cloud computing refers to both the applications delivered as services over the Internet and the hardware and systems software in the data centers thatprovide those services. The services themselves have long been referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS)". The authors make some really valid points about why cloud computing is so prevelant and why it's worth taking note of;

3. The ability to pay for use of computing resources on a short-term basis as needed (for example, processors by the hour and storage by the day) and release them as needed, thereby rewarding conservation by letting machines and storage go when they are no longer useful.
Makes it seem pretty straight forward right? Good news, is that cloud computing is quite simple! You don't need to understand IT to understand cloud computing and it's deliverables to your business.

Moving onto cloud economics is quite interesting too. Cloud offerings from IT business partners and Software as a Services (SaaS) providers are most useful when a business has;

1. Fluctuating demand for resource requirements (in IT speak; provisioning). Cloud computing lets a business pay for IT resources on a monthly, weekly or hourly basis. This means overall cost savings as provisioned resources are always at optimum utilization.

2. Unknown demand for services in advance of projects. Some businesses, especially those in the growth phase can't know demand for their services without expensive market research.  "Pay as you go" best describes the benefits of cloud computing.

3. Elasticity of demand. Simply put - IT resource can be provisioned within minutes instead of weeks using a cloud computing service. Cloud computing can match workload to resource allowance much more closely, meaning that at peak times provision can be made quickly for demand.

Here are some notes on considerations whilst I've got your "head in the clouds".

Businesses need to consider the following when looking at a cloud solution.

1. Business Continuity and Availability of Service; most businesses worry about their IT availability, scalability of service levels, service outages etc. All valid concerns, but you'll note that most SaaS cloud providers provide such good service, any small outage (no matter how small) is often jumped on by the news media. The most simple solution is to use multiple cloud providers to ensure service. Otherwise, get details from your SaaS provider about their outages and "uptime" guarantees. Any SaaS provider worth your business will be willing and able to provide this information.

2. Data Confidentiality; with the increased desire of society to make businesses transparent and accountable, the need for data confidentiality and auditability of IT services is at an all time high. The most simple solution to this is go with a SaaS provider who can talk to you about your specific IT security requirements. This means discussing the need for VLANs, Firewalls, Encryption of your data and perhaps even using the Sarbanes-Oxley and Health and Human Services Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations as a guide when choosing your SaaS provider.

3. Software Licensing; as anyone who's implemented an IT project in their business will know, software licensing can be a large part of the overall project cost. With a SaaS cloud solution the need for software licensing is not negated, it's just handled in a different manner. Fortunately most software licensing vendors have cloud solutions in place for their clients and can offer provisioned licensing solutions. The best question to ask your IT provider is if they are able to offer pay-per-use licenses.

Finally, email me if you've got any questions about cloud computing or would like to give comment.

Here are the details of the authors and the journal details for the full article. It's a fascinating read if you've got time and absolutely worth taking a look at.

Armbrust, M. Armando, F et. al. A View of Cloud Computing, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 53, No. 4, April 2010

2. The elimination of an up-front commitment by cloud users, thereby allowing companies to start small and increase hardware resources only when there is an increase in their needs.

1. The appearance of infinite computing resources available on demand, quickly enough to follow load surges, thereby eliminating the need for cloud computing users to plan far ahead for provisioning.

Business Recovery and Hosted Solutions

Thought I might share an interesting article from David Markus which is featured on the HP Technology at Work newsletter.

David looks at what he expects IT teams will need to know in the near future as businesses recover from recent financial setbacks. This article is mostly directed to US clients of HP, so a little bit of analysis is needed to make it relevant to the Australian market.

Essentially David's pointing out that cloud based solutions are going to be a major focus for all companies in 2011. As we've all seen, there's been a lot of hype around "cloud computing". Cloud computing, without getting into it's definitions (see Wikipedia), promises to deliver to businesses of any size cost savings and a chance to move IT projects into an operational expense - where previously many larger projects would have meant capital outlay.

The reason cloud computing is so important for Australians to come to terms with, is due to the way it's going to change our IT landscape. Cloud, hosted offerings now mean applications and infrastructure don't need to be owned or managed by a business any more. The cost effectiveness of cloud offerings also means that enterprise applications from large organisations like Salesforce.com, Oracle, Microsoft and SAP are now available to small and medium businesses on demand, without the percieved cost barrier.

David's article also describes how IT teams need to be looking into cloud offerings from their traditional IT suppliers to ensure their suppliers are able to provide a hosted cloud solution, should that be part of the businesses plan during it's recovery.

Where once upon a time a small IT partner might have offered hosted solutions as a point of difference over their competitors, cloud offerings are now becoming standard - so the competitive advantage of a traditional IT supplier will be maintained through providing a quality of service, security and products from the right enterprise providers; Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce.com being examples.

My advice to Aussie small business would be to consider a cloud hosted alternative to any major project being undertaken. Consider the pros and cons of each offering - cloud or physical - and decide what's best for your business. Ultimately you'll want to ensure your IT provider knows what they're doing when they're moving you onto a cloud based solution, so there's a seamless transition for your applications, data and users on the network.

As business picks up for 2011 the demand for IT is only going to increase. Projects shelved for lack of funds during recovery are now being revisited and it's absolutely opportune timing with the growth of cloud computing.

David's original article can be found at; http://h30458.www3.hp.com/au/en/smb/1050641.html?jumpid=em_taw_AU_feb11_across-bg_1116016_hpgl_gb_1050641_27&DIMID=1130782636&DICID=null&mrm=1-4BVUP

If you'd like more information on Cloud Computing, Hosted Solutions or have a question relating to the blog, feel free to email me at peter.malone@hotmail.com