Posted by Robbie Forkish on Mon, Aug 17, 2009
Emerging technologies are inevitably subject to hype cycles. Cloud computing, for example, had reached what Gartner calls "the peak of inflated expectations" when experts were proclaiming in 2008 that cloud computing would effectively put all servers ever manufactured at our disposal, with virtual everything, infinite scalability, and at price points approaching zero. Every enterprise application was a candidate for cloud computing. It was all good.
I saw evidence in late June that we had arrived at the next stage of the hype cycle, the "trough of disillusionment", in a posting on Dark Reading entitled "Could The Cloud Lead To An Even Bigger 9/11?" Here's an excerpt:
"...a coordinated attack...could stop a country cold, with recovery taking years and massive infrastructure failures causing loss of life and resources never seen outside of an outright world war."
Wow. I have to admit that this is the first new technology I've encountered whose downside was on par with a world war. How worried should I be? To answer that, let's look again at where we are in the cloud computing hype cycle:
First, the amplitude of the hype curve has created a state known as "blogger heaven". And we're probably just past the nadir of the "trough of disillusionment". Which means there's a collective realization that cloud computing--like every new technology before it--has failed to live up to the inflated expectations of last year. Does that make it bad? Of course not. Are all articles, blogs, white papers and other resources now biased to the downside of cloud computing? No, that's too much of a generalization. But it's fair to say that among the thoughtful cautions being published these days one is bound to find more than a fair share of hand-wringing and forecasts of doom.
The driver for cloud services is economics. Cloud services, especially SaaS-based delivery models, promise huge cost savings compared to traditional enterprise software. The model is attractive, with the prospect of no upfront investment required, pay for only what you use, and no software to deploy or manage. And with most companies these days looking for any way to cut expenses, it's likely that question will come from senior management: How can we leverage the cloud to save money?
Well, one option is to tell the CFO, CEO and board members that cloud services are a bad idea because of the world war downside.
Another option for any company is to analyze specific requirements, and develop a cloud security strategy consistent with the sensitivity of data and company mission. A key area of focus -- for applications in the cloud or behind the enterprise firewall -- is controlling access to critical resources and data. Of course, not all clouds are created equal -- some have better controls than others. But when the silver lining is huge cost savings, it's worth the effort to investigate cloud offerings to find those that meet a company's unique security requirements.