Is cloud computing going to be a hit ?

No one can deny that the IT industry is in a state of change.  Sites like digg, slashdot and CIO.com are littered with news on cloud computing.  Microsoft , Google , Amazon and even Verizon are coming up with  cloud computing strategies.  But do you think cloud computing is a new idea or just an old one that has been re-invented ?


First, I believe cloud computing is an essential part of the next version of the web; but cloud computing is a generic term.

Cloud computing is nothing more than a scalable, secure (not specifically defined), multi purpose environment for deploying applications.  Kinda sounds like a mainframe doesn't it ?

Yes it does, admit it the big iron has influenced our pre-conceived ideas of a cloud computing environment. However this isn't your dads punch card reading big rig.  Cloud computing is made up of almost any type of device that can communicate over a network.  Everything from X86/SPARC servers to mainframes to low energy desktop computers and even mobile devices.  Infrastructure is an important step in the cloud computing environment but it is not the final step in a successful cloud computing eco-system.

Cloud computing is about software... Mainframes focused on raw performance coming from the hardware layer (and it did it well!) but cloud computing will not be successful if everyone thinks the house is built with a foundation only.  Scalable software platforms is where the money is at folks.  Thats what will push I.T. into the future.  Without flexible software platforms such as google app engine SDK (in Python and Java) developers would be left with the burden of developing a framework to take advantage of the cloud hardware resources before concentrating on the core services of that application.  The ROI would be slow, difficult to coordinate and painful.  I believe this would cause developers to go back to a traditional software deployment models.

But who's services should I use ?  thats a tough question to answer.  We have some big names in the game when it comes to the cloud computing initiative.  They all promise of a flexible development platform that will reduce the need to pay up front for resources you may never use.  Sure it is a good business model to pay for what you use - but I want to see it in action !  Thats where services like google app engine will have a large advantage.  Allowing developers to "test ride" the platform first will change the way developers "think" of developing software and deploying their business services.  In turn word of mouth, news articles and third party software libraries will spread the word that cloud computing is fun, easy and makes sense in an increasingly connected world.

Hell if not then we can all go back to the punch card days right ?

coming soon

In the following weeks I will be posting a number of blogs on cloud computing.   I will be covering all sorts of cloud computing environments, frameworks and general knowledge of the field.   Hopefully I can get discussions going on topics such as security, framework design and efficiencies.

please come back soon and share your thoughts of the cloud !