My one big insight – in the future when the Cloud Computing Expo has 50% of the sessions on cloud- based applications, end user solutions and real customer usage stories then cloud computing will have arrived. Right now it is just starting to mature...an exciting time to be involved!
- This is a fast growing but still immature space. This is obvious because:
- There are lots of very specialized vendors selling point solutions.
- Most people here are talking about the issues and not solutions.
- There's a lot of work going on in areas that should 'just work'. Most of these areas will become commodities in the longer term but right now there's a lot of duct tape holding lipstick onto pigs.
- The lack of clarity around industry definitions is amazing, the industry needs to agree on what some of these words mean!
- There's a severe lack of real-life customer use cases. This is odd because vendors stand on the stage announcing that they've been selling cloud solutions for ten years. To whom?
- The focus right now is on solving IT issues down at the IaaS level. IMHO this will/should be short lived because this really should be a commodity. The sooner we can move out of IaaS and be looking at eSaaS (Enterprise Software as a Service) the better.
- Segregation is
probablygoing to be a big deal. The cloud aggregates things into a single location and sometimes that's not a good thing, we need to be able to segregate some things (data, access, services, etc.). Don't neglect to build your infrastructure to be able to withstand this data mobility. - An even bigger deal will be policies. Not just for segregation but also for provisioning, access, etc.. Here's one...how about a policy for when you will take down unused systems in the cloud. I've ranted on about uncontrolled silos being a huge liability for ten years now...oh lookie, here's another one appearing!
- Security. we need to be able to secure the cloud, no doubt about it. We could do ourselves a favor however by *comparing* the cloud apps to on-premise apps. The elephant in this room is "how secure is your existing infrastructure?" Before you call my baby ugly take a look in your own crib!
- Self-service is a big deal but only because it is the key touch point with the end users but it really only solves once tiny part of the issue with the software lifecycle - deployment. Let's not get too carried away.
- Open source cloud solutions. These will help especially at the IaaS level and will play a large part in driving IaaS into a commodity. I want to see IaaSaaC not just be a biblical figure but a reality.
- One blocking factor is confidence. We need to find a way to get companies to try the cloud, the other might be related to IT departments and job security!
- Convincing IT that the cloud will allow them to focus on adding value to the business not just "breaking rocks" would be huge.
- Talking of IT...IT and engineering are going to have to form new alliances. DevOps was a word that I've heard bandied around a lot this week.
- One thing that I don't know for sure is "who is going to win". At any level of any part of the stack. What does this mean in an area like this? Don't get too tied in to anyone's specific technology if you can avoid it. Remember 'agility' is the word of the week.
- The cloud is global...rules, regulation, laws, etc. are not. Don't assume that the regulations that govern *your* data apply elsewhere. This one is a killer.
- Leverage the cloud, don't just move to it. If you think that a move to the cloud is just about moving from the on-premise datacenter to the off-premise datacenter then you will be missing out on a lot of the potential - especially the financial potential.
- Make sure that your cloud service provider will turn on the lights for you. Remember what "assume" did...
- Cloud computing seems to lead to Choice computing. If your cloud solution only runs on a VT220 terminal or Windows then you might not be happy with adoption.
The conference was very good, I'd like to see a few more customers speaking and many more sessions on deploying SaaS. Good energy level, friendly people and I didn't have to speak so I could dress like a homeless person.
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