The case for the cloud
There is a never-ending buzz around business technology and a constant queue of vendors anxious to upsell organisations to something smarter and slicker. Prospective customers have to separate the hype from the hard facts, and be mindful of emperors who wear new clothes.
In the case of cloud computing, some will tell you that its antecedent is the centralised computing power of the mainframe. Others may point out that the hosted delivery model was touted by application service providers (ASPs) ten years ago, only to vanish when dotcom turned to dot bomb.
While the broad principles may have been the same, there are significant differences that suggest cloud computing represents a real sea change in the IT delivery model. The basic concept is that organisations access a central data centre or platform – over the public internet or private network – for the hosted delivery of infrastructure, applications or software services.
While the cloud can take many forms, there are some underlying technologies that make it happen. Virtualisation has transformed the data centre, enabling applications and operating systems to take up multi-tenancy on single servers, creating consolidated server farms that are more agile and easier to scale.]
Broadband and a new generation of IP networks have made connectivity into the data centre feasible for even the smallest firms. Just a decade ago, the reliance on leased lines and expensive ATM networks were a major reason why the ASP model never took off.
Time is right
The sum total of these parts has the scope to transform the IT environment in many ways, but for small firms in particular it promises an era of equal opportunity. Now they can afford to access tools and infrastructure that were once the sole preserve of large organisations. Gartner predicts that the majority of the small business IT segment will move to the cloud.
The rise of Saleforce.com, started by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff just over a decade ago, has symbolised this transformation. Inspired by the simplicity of the Amazon online model, he set out to create an easy-to-use, web-based CRM solution that would give organisations the business benefits of sophisticated software without the complexity.
Validation of the model has come with software heavyweights like Microsoft introducing software-as-a-service delivery (SaaS).The Google Apps suite of office software has added to the new wave, highlighting how the consumerisation of IT, first explored by Salesforce, has shown no signs of abating.
Online communication tools like Gmail, Instant Messenger and Skype had already introduced consumers to a version of the cloud and web-based tools. Business IT is following the trend.
Meanwhile, the managed service and data centre sector has evolved to deliver infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions, liberating organisations from their on-premise IT burden. The service provider can also provide access to high performance computing and levels of security that were previously beyond their reach.
The most innovative type of cloud is the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model, where organisations are able to develop tailor-made solutions for their business. Not only can applications be designed and built more quickly in the cloud, they are hosted on a platform that makes them easier to scale quickly and integrate with the wider business
