I knew a month or so ago, when I heard a segment on NPR about cloud computing, that it was a concept taking hold of people’s imaginations. I’m waiting for the Today Show segment, which is when I’ll know for sure that it’s a topic for mass media frenzy.
All kidding aside, there is no doubt that the concept of cloud computing is gaining momentum in the IT community. The concept isn’t as new as some media coverage might lead you to believe – from the time of the first outsourcing done by the Big 6 (remember them?) consulting firms, there have been ways for companies to outsource and “pay as you go” for IT services. Application Service Providers (ASPs) and Software as a Service (SaaS) furthered that direction in the late 90s, and early 2000s. Small companies are using Google’s AppManagement as their IT infrastructure, and more companies are using storage and server virtualization to create a cloud (one server running multiple applications) in their own data centers. The question is, can larger companies benefit from cloud computing similar to this, but on a broader scale?
It seems like larger organizations are unsure about whether the lack of control is outweighed by the cost savings of not investing in an in-house data center – let’s be honest, when it comes to IT, it’s nice to know that your company’s critical data is inside your own organization’s walls, and firewalls. But, major IT players like VMware and Microsoft are embracing the cloud – and the role of virtualization in cloud computing – and have discussed it on several occasions. The appeal of the cloud could sway more CIOs to take a closer look, as evidenced by a recent CIO magazine article on the concept, which cites a Forrester Research report called, “Is Cloud Computing Ready for the Enterprise?”
We’d like to hear from our customers, partners and readers with their thoughts on “the cloud”, and what their plans are for using it. I invite you to join in the cloud computing discussion and answer the question: Would you trust your data to the cloud?