Posts Tagged ‘cloud computing’

  What is Cloud Computing?

I am frequently asked to describe what cloud computing is.  One of the problems with the term cloud computing is that the term is used loosely to describe many types of computing models.  Here I make an analogy comparing computing models to real estate.  Ready, here it goes…

Owning a home – this is like a traditional (on-premise) small business computer network.  The business owns the entire system and it is located on their premise.  They pay for the house and all of its repairs and maintenance.  The initial investment is high, but the owner has total control of the system and responsibility for its management.  Highest up-front costs, unpredictable ongoing costs.

Owning a condominium – this is hosting.  The business owns the equipment and runs it in a shared facility.  They are responsible for purchasing most of the equipment and pay monthly fee to cover major infrastructure costs that are shared with their neighbors.  While this still has the same high initial investment, the owner is no longer responsible for many of the maintenance or repair costs.  Management responsibilities are also delegated in exchange for condo fees which are shared.  High upfront costs, predictable ongoing costs.

Renting an apartment – this is Platform as a Service (PaaS) or utility computing.  This is when the business has a long term agreement to use someone else’s equipment and infrastructure.  The business will sometimes own soft assets like software and remote devices (think furniture and chachki), but the vast majority of the equipment belongs to someone else.  The key point to this is that there is a long term agreement for a fixed set of outcomes.  This model also reduces the initial investment.  There is no large up front capital expense and all management, maintenance, and repairs are delegated.  All in exchange for a monthly fee.  Low up-front costs, higher predictable ongoing costs.

Renting a hotel room – this is true cloud computing.  While the term is loosely used in the industry, it’s true meaning is short term and scalable.  Some of these are free (like the old youth hostels and YMCA’s), there are some on a budget, mid-priced, luxury, short stay, extended stay.  Regardless, in all cases, they are pure transaction oriented, pay for a night stay for a night.  They are designed to be flexible and address short term needs.  No up-front costs, highest on-going costs, short time commitments.

As you can see, no one model that fits everyone.  As these models continue to mature and the technologies evolve, they will become more clearly defined.  One thing is certain to me, technology will continue to move at an ever increasing pace.  We need to remain aggressively thoughtful and purposeful as we continue to develop our services.  It is very important that we match our Clients’ needs to the solution and not vice versa.