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09 Apr 2009
Cloud computing holds tremendous potential to revolutionise the way many businesses operate, but organisations considering a move to this model should be fully aware of the risks and benefits before taking the plunge.
Several industry experts have warned enterprises to make sure that their data and business processes are properly protected, and that there are clearly defined systems in place should something go wrong.
Calum Murray, head of software-as-a-service at Capgemini UK, urged businesses to look at cloud computing services with their eyes wide open. He gave the example of Coghead, a cloud service provider that had its intellectual property snapped up by SAP, effectively leaving its customers 30 days to get their data off the system.
Even assuming that customers can get their data saved locally, this type of eventuality can still leave an organisation with no business applications in place, severely disrupted processes and a stack of valuable business information stored in a format that may or may not be open to other providers.
Murray stressed that trust is vital for businesses to fully reap the benefits of cloud computing, and that organisations must work closely with providers and service integrators to properly identify, evaluate and mitigate the risks. He also highlighted the importance of open standards and platforms, which can help to encourage competition and provide peace of mind to customers who can rest assured that they can port their information to other providers if they need to.
Scott Fletcher, chief executive of managed services firm ANS Group, pointed out that the widespread failure of Google's Gmail service earlier this year left millions of users unable to access their accounts for several hours.
"Cloud computing undoubtedly offers some cost-saving benefits, and is great for mobile and flexible working. No longer do workers need a desktop, as all applications and documents can be held in the cloud and accessed on portable devices from anywhere," he said.
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Do you agree?
What is cloud computing?
To truly separate the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) from the facts in cloud computing, you have to understand what it is, and remediate any risks based on that understanding. Your article doesn't serve the readers by presuming that cloud computing is applications delivered across the internet, such as the failed Coghead did. That is only one aspect of cloud computing. It can generally be divided three categories, relating to the level of abstraction that it is provided under: Software application-as-a-Service (SaaS) such as Google offers with its desktop applications in the cloud; PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) such as remote backup, databases, or programming environments; and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) such as Amazon or my company, ENKI, offer in which customers use remote computers on demand much as they would servers in their own data center. As you go up from IaaS to SaaS, the level of dependence of your business on the provider increases, necessitating different and increasingly sophisticated alternatives should the service fail. For example, IaaS recovery can generally be done reasonably quickly with an appropriate backup strategy, whereas SaaS recovery usually will require a complex plan with data translation and alternate service agreements. However, these risks and remediations have to be evaluated with the understanding that many businesses don't have adequate disaster recovery plans in place for their own IT services, in which case relying on a cloud provider can actually improve their uptime and availability. In general, I agree with the article's point that building a partnership relationship with your cloud provider, rather than simply consuming a service in the way that you would watch TV, is going to provide your business with a more reliable service that can be customized to meet your particular needs. -Eric http://www.computingutility.com
Posted by: Eric Novikoff 09 Apr 2009