Computing ‘in the clouds’ can help small firms
Tom Salonek,
Intertech:
651.454.0013, ext. 12
tsalonek@intertech.com
www.intertech.com
Cloud Computing
DID YOUR PARENTS ever tell you to “get your head out of the clouds” when you were a kid? The many practical benefits of cloud computing threaten to render meaningless that stock parenting phrase.
Cloud computing promises to make computer viruses and PC upgrades quaint relics of the recent past. Another benefit: computing in the cloud means little or no capital investment is required to quickly scale up computer resources.
It provides significant cost benefits because users typically pay based on the amount of time they spend in the cloud, thus reducing or eliminating the need for large investments in proprietary information technology infrastructures.
And with important data stored in the cloud, companies have significantly fewer worries about critical information disappearing, or falling into the hands of a criminal, in the event that a laptop holding sensitive information is stolen or systemwide security is compromised.
It all sounds great, but what, exactly, is cloud computing?
Cloud computing involves using hardware or software offered by an independent provider over a network. For companies, particularly startups and smaller firms, cloud computing is particularly attractive. It enables them to tap into raw computing power, storage, software applications and data from large computer centers over the Internet-all without having to invest in their own data centers and buying servers and disks.
Virtualization is key to cloud computing because it allows a single computer to function as multiple virtual servers running many operating systems and applications. That’s important because in the cloud dedicated computers simply do not exist-each one can run many software applications at one time, with processing power and storage shared among applications depending on demand.
Think of the cloud as a utility from which you purchase services and products as you need them, just like electricity or water.
Big and bigger
While the term “cloud computing” is relatively new, the concept has been around for quite some time. People have been using Web e-mail services like Hotmail for the past decade. More recently, millions have begun computing in the cloud via Web-based services such as Facebook, Skype, YouTube and Twitter that “live” on the Internet.
Providers include such heavy hitters as Google, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and EMC and their products include:
- Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon.com) that allows developers to buy computing power and storage on an as-needed basis and provides the same services as if they built their own data center.
- Cloudburst (IBM), sometimes called a “cloud in a box,” is a package of hardware and software that allows a company to build a private cloud.
- Decho (EMC) is a backup data-storage cloud.
- Salesforce.com (Oracle) provides cloud-based customer relationship management.
- Mozy.com (a unit of EMC) sells remote backup storage.
- Azure (Microsoft) competes with Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud.
- Google Docs (Google) provides the basic functions of Microsoft Office.
- Chrome OS (Google) is a cloud-focused operating system that promises to transform PCs and even mobile phones into simple devices that use a Web browser to do just about anything a user needs.
As you probably guessed based on all the marquee providers, cloud computing is big and getting bigger all the time. Yet for all the sophistication of the various offerings, the emerging clout of cloud computing boils down to something very simple: it allows organizations to focus on their greatest areas of expertise by letting others with computing specialization take care of those functions on their behalf.
It’s a concept that your grandma called “sticking to your knitting,” and its applicability to business has been intelligently explored in such books as “The Discipline of Market Leaders” and “Now Focus on Your Strengths.”
But beware: cloud computing does not absolve your organization of the need to do due diligence or to have a backup plan in place in case something goes awry. While legitimate service providers like Google and Microsoft already have multiple layers of redundancy in place to ensure data security, some organizations with legal responsibility for handling customers’ data with utmost care may prefer to build a private cloud for another layer of security.
Privacy, particularly in regard to trade secrets, is another sensitive area to consider. That’s because trade secrets may enjoy less protection when stored with third parties. A cloud user should therefore be aware of the possibility of third-party subpoenas and government requests for data, and should know what the provider will do in such events.
Since the definition of cloud computing is the ephemeral nature of data’s physical location, your agreement should address the question of jurisdiction in the event of a dispute. You also may wish to insist that your provider keep all your sensitive data with application hosts located within U.S. borders.
Just like regular clouds can occasionally get dark and cause temporary havoc, cloud computing is not 100 percent risk-free. The temporary (more than one hour) outage of Google’s Gmail services last summer exposed a potential risk of cloud computing.
But like all risks, the gains must be balanced in any cost-benefit calculation. For my money, cloud computing does not harbor undue security risks and the benefits are considerable-particularly for smaller companies that lack sophisticated information technology departments.
