Behind the Myths of Cloud Computing

Is there anyone not in the cloud? Cloud computing is the buzzword du jour and everyone–Google (GOOG), Salesforce.com (CRM), Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN)–is trying to get into the act. The problem: It will be another year–2009–before companies use cloud computing services extensively. In the meantime, folks will have to define and sort out a lot of mumbo jumbo about the cloud.

Those are the takeaways from a presentation by Gartner analysts Daryl Plummer and Thomas Bittman at the Gartner Emerging Technologies conference in Las Vegas. Plummer acknowledged that there are a lot of unknowns about cloud computing. “There’s a lot of evolution we need to see,” said Plummer.

Another takeaway: There was a room full of IT managers looking for some sort of definition about cloud computing. There’s a good reason for that: Cloud computing is still academic to corporations.

Cloud computing is largely misunderstood, but it’s a big deal. In fact, the cloud is as big as the e-business revolution. It’ll take some time to sort out as every tech vendor uses the term “cloud” in marketing material. In fact, Plummer noted that corporations using cloud computing won’t be the norm for about five years.

And if that weren’t enough, there are more than a few misunderstandings about cloud computing. Plummer and Bittman compiled a handy slide of myths. “Myths are rampant in the IT industry. Cloud computing is no different. Anyone looking at the cloud will see more myths than he or she can name,” the analysts said. (Click images to enlarge.)

So what is the definition? According to Gartner cloud computing is “a style of computing where massively scalable IT-related capabilities are provided ‘as a service’ across the Internet to multiple external customers.”

In English, that definition means the cloud should just deliver a service on a subscription basis, allow access from anywhere and provide economies of scale. Plummer also dispelled the notion that there will be just a few big cloud computing vendors. In fact, the cloud will go cross-vendor and feature shared resources.

Also see: Cloud computing hasn’t gone Fortune 500 yet, but it’s coming

Is the cloud really the next big thing? You bet:

• By 2012, 80 percent of Fortune 1000 enterprises will pay for some cloud computing service and 30 percent of them will pay for cloud computing infrastructure.
• Through 2010, more than 80 percent of enterprise use of cloud computing will be devoted to very large data queries, short-term massively parallel workloads, or IT use by startups with little to no IT infrastructure.

But cloud computing isn’t a cure-all. In fact, there will be many things that won’t go into the cloud. A look at some of the drawbacks:

Bottom line: There’s a lot of work to do. For now, the best course is to plan for cloud computing and beware of marketing-speak.

Comments

[Football Geek:]

I look forward to more articles about this subject. I have heard about cloud computing before, but outside of the tech world not much is known.
This could really be a money maker for someone who is able to find
which companies will benefit from this.

2008 Apr 08 10:42 AM

[User 141585:]

For more on Cloud Computing, check out "The Banks Crisis: How Cloud Computing Saved The Day", Mary Poppins, Umbrella Press.

2008 Apr 08 11:14 AM

[David Tsao:]

These are very general statements about cloud computing usage going out to 2010-2012. Even if the research comes from Gartner, there are major adoption issues at the ground level for the engineers that actually build the applications.

You can see my full comments about this subject here:
seekingalpha.com/artic...

2008 Apr 08 12:42 PM

[getoffmycloud:]

Buzzwords. Marketing Buzzwords. Massive Confusion. FUD (fear uncertainty doubt). Early Adapter. Relational Databases. Client Server.
SOA, SOX and SDLC. At the office we have thin client architecture, virtual private network and replicated/mirrored servers 1000 miles away. At home my web based email and the automatic backups are another form of client computing. In a last orgy of excess hard drives in desktop PC's everywhere become terabyte sized as they are silently racing to become obsolete. Paradoxes. Web Applications, Web Services. Cloud Computing is here now.

2008 Apr 08 11:08 PM

[GregY:]

Just leave it to journalists and marketeers to lead us into yet another technology revolution. This is a price for true innovation to flourish, but a lot of shareholders money will be wasted in process by companies that would try to buy yet another "silver bullet" instead of focusing on improving effectiveness of their business model.

2008 Apr 09 11:25 AM

[Mike G:]

As a small business executive, I have some real concerns about cloud computing. In my mind the economics of scale are far outweighed by the risk that at some point a small or medium or even large business may find themselves unable to continue to pay their cloud bills. What happens then? Does one find their business informaton systems and accounting systems held hostage until they can pay? Could you find youself shut out with no ability to operate your business?

Don't pay your phone bill or your gas credit card etc, or just forget or miss a payment date and guess what? Yep, you are shut out. My bet is that that is exactly what will happen in the cloud.

Not a risk I would take with my small business.

Am I missing something here? I'd be interested in comments.

2008 Apr 09 11:53 AM

[Michael She...:]

Thank you for this. I have been voicing my concern about the cloud computing hype for several weeks now. It seems like everyone either is trying to develop a cloud infrastructure, get their product in the cloud or just try to understand it.
And I agree with GetOfMyCloud and GregoryY's comments. I mused about it as well: blog.gogrid.com/2008/0.../

This is part of the reason why we came up with GoGrid. It hits the sweet spot between cloud computing and traditional hosting. You get rapid scalability but also full control of your servers, all while using a utility pricing model of pay as you go.

2008 Apr 10 04:15 PM